Richard Thompson, the new chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has suggested the organisation will consider offering players long-term contracts in an effort to stop them turning their backs on international cricket in favour of a more lucrative life on the global franchise circuit.
The proliferation of Twenty20 competitions has massively increased players’ earning potential, allowing someone like Liam Livingstone – whose white-ball contract with the ECB might be worth up to £300,000 – to secure in one year a $150,000 (£130,000) deal to play for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League and a 115m rupee (£1.3m) contract from Punjab Kings to play in the Indian Premier League, as well as $500,000 to play in the new South African league, which launches in January.
