Australia’s Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has finally broken his silence on the reports of him, along with his senior teammates, possibly looking towards South Africa’s SA20 for better deals because they are not happy with the salaries offered in the Big Bash League (BBL).
The Age reported that some top Australian cricketers, including captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc, are planning to approach Cricket Australia (CA) for NOC to play in SA20 if they are not paid what they believe is the right value in the BBL.
Pat Cummins among Australian stars demand million-dollar BBL deals, ready to move to SA20?
They reportedly want BBL contracts of around $1 million to stay committed to Australia’s T20 competition. Over the last few years, leagues like SA20 and The Hundred have become very powerful because of the huge money involved.
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Many cricketers around the world are now choosing franchise leagues over international schedules, and Australia is likely to face the same situation soon.
The report also suggested that some confidential discussions had already taken place among senior players about their future plans as they feel the BBL is no longer able to compete financially with the biggest T20 leagues across the world, even The Hundred.
Pat Cummins calls SA20 and The Hundred claims “made up”
Reacting to the rumors, Cummins completely denied the claims and said the story about him looking for an NOC from Cricket Australia for SA20 or getting offers from The Hundred was simply not true.
Shutting down the rumours, Pat Cummins took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote: “Everything you’ve written about me in this about SAT20 NOC and The Hundred offer is made up 👍”
Everything you’ve written about me in this about SAT20 NOC and The Hundred offer is made up 👍
— Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) May 14, 2026
Cricket Australia admits overseas league fears
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia refused to make direct comments on the media reports, but they admitted that the situation had become serious. Cricket Australia’s head of cricket, James Allsopp, admitted that Australian cricketers are now among the most wanted players in the franchise world.
Allsopp admitted that CA’s biggest concern is protecting players who play across formats as well as specialist white-ball stars because these cricketers are attracting huge interest from different leagues. They can travel around the world, play T20 leagues, and still make a very successful career.
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He had stated, “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.”
CA need to solve salary issue before big BBL 2027-28 season
On the other hand, the Big Bash League 2026-27 is expected to miss many top national stars because Australia will be touring India for a five-match Test series in January. Due to this busy schedule, players like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Travis Head, and Alex Carey are likely to be rested after the New Zealand Tests.
However, Cricket Australia hopes the 2027-28 BBL season will become the main attraction of the Australian summer because of the smaller tours. The plan is to finish the Pakistan Test series by early January so that Australian stars can become available for the BBL.
But there is still one big problem. Overseas T20 leagues are offering much bigger money than the BBL. Because of that, many Australian players may still choose foreign leagues over playing in Australia. Notably, Cummins has not played in the BBL since 2019.
