Australian captain Pat Cummins and vice-captain Travis Head have reportedly turned down lucrative franchise contracts worth nearly $10 million a year to focus on their international careers, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The staggering offers, believed to have come from an Indian Premier League (IPL) ownership group earlier this year, would have required the pair to give up their commitments to Australian cricket and play T20 franchise cricket year-round.
Both players, who featured in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad, rejected the deals, choosing instead to prioritise their roles with the Australian national team.
Cummins and Head follow in the footsteps of England pacer Jofra Archer, who also turned down a reported $7.5 million annual deal from Mumbai Indians two years ago.
The development has reignited debate in Australian cricket circles about the future of the Big Bash League (BBL), with increasing calls to open it up to private ownership in order to raise player salaries and better compete with the global franchise circuit.
Currently, top Australian players earn around $1.5 million from their Cricket Australia contracts, while Cummins reportedly earns closer to $3 million due to captaincy bonuses. In the most recent IPL auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad paid nearly $3.7 million for Cummins and $1.2 million for Head.
Despite these impressive earnings, the offers from global franchises represent a new financial frontier. Head briefly explored life on the T20 circuit last year by playing in the USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC), but said he remains committed to international cricket.
“I played MLC to get a taste of what it would be like to play franchise cricket,” Head told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I had IPL into a World Cup into MLC, so I wanted to see what it was like to basically play four months of franchise cricket.
“You want to have every option available to you, you want to experience things and understand how things operate. A lot of people are making certain decisions around the world, and it was a perfect opportunity for me to understand that.”
Head said that while he respects players who choose the franchise route, his focus is still on playing for Australia.
“Currently I’m playing for Australia, and I don’t see a timeline where I can play anything else really,” he added.
“The IPL takes a big chunk of things, and I want to commit, as much as I can, to Australia. I missed a tour in the West Indies for some rest, which I needed. Ideally, I wouldn’t want to do that, but in the current situation we’re in, we need to plan the year out.”
He also addressed the growing trend of players retiring early from international cricket to pursue franchise deals, citing his Sunrisers teammate Heinrich Klaasen as an example. The 34-year-old South African has now committed full-time to T20 leagues.
“I spent a lot of time with Klaasen while he was making decisions,” Head said.
“I don’t think there’s any written rule on what you should or shouldn’t play or what you should or shouldn’t give up. Playing international cricket is the pinnacle. A lot of people hold it so high in regard, but some people don’t.
“People have got to respect that there’s no one way to go about it. A lot of people would give their left nut to play international cricket, and that comes from someone who’s played a lot of cricket or someone who’s played none.
“When someone gives up that opportunity it’s ‘why are you doing it?’ But there’s a reason, and you’ve got to respect that.
“What’s happening in the world at the moment is people have opportunities to make those decisions, which we’ve never had before. So it’s hard to knock someone who is making a decision in their own personal state and trying to get job satisfaction. Fair play.”
The cricketing world continues to grapple with the growing influence of T20 leagues, but for now, Australia can count on the loyalty of two of its most important players.
