Senior Australian cricketers, including Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins, are considering a major career move ahead of the 2028 season. Several players could seek no-objection certificates to participate in South Africa’s SA20 league if Big Bash League (BBL) salaries do not match global franchise markets.
The growing concerns around player salaries could increase pressure on Cricket Australia to bring private investment into the Big Bash League. However, the plans have slowed because of resistance from Cricket NSW and Queensland Cricket. Several BBL players are also unhappy with the current salary structure.
Pat Cummins and Australia Stars Threaten BBL Exit
According to a report in The Age, the players are demanding contracts worth around $1 million each to prioritize the BBL.
Cricket Australia is also discussing major structural changes to its domestic system, including the possible removal of the overseas player draft, which has distributed more than $20 million to international players since 2022.
CA head of cricket James Allsopp spoke about the growing challenge from global franchise leagues. He said that Cricket Australia wants to ensure its multi-format stars and white-ball specialists are paid well enough to remain committed to Australian cricket.
“The two priorities, in my mind, are making sure multi-format players that drive a lot of commercial value, and also performance value for the team, are well looked after, and we can compete with those market forces, and then also our specialist white-ball players,” Allsopp said last week.
That’s Not Going to Be In the Best Interests - James Allsopp
Allsopp admitted that Australian players now have major earning opportunities through global franchise leagues. He warned that losing leading domestic players to overseas tournaments would hurt Australian cricket in the long run.
“They’re in pretty high demand. There’s a world now, where they can jump on the franchise circuit and make a really good living away from Australian cricket, or even away from our BBL, and that’s not going to be in the best interests of Australian cricket,” he added.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood were previously offered pre-auction deals worth $800,000 each to play in The Hundred. However, accepting those contracts would have ruled them out of Australia’s Test series against Bangladesh in August.
Australians Deserve to Be Paid As Much As Everyone Else - Malcolm Speed
Former Cricket Australia CEO Malcolm Speed discussed the ongoing pay disputes. He criticized the current payment structure in the Big Bash League, saying overseas players receive higher salaries than local cricketers.
“There’s a premium for international players in the BBL – they get about $100,000 more than the top Australian players,” said former CA CEO Malcolm Speed on SEN radio on Wednesday. “Get rid of that. The Australians deserve to be paid as much as everyone else.”
Several top Australian players are also expected to miss the 2026/27 Big Bash League season because of a packed international schedule. Australia will finish a four-match Test series against New Zealand in January before traveling to India later that month for a five-match series.
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