The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) has published an ominous report which highlights the changing trend in cricket of more and more players skipping international duty to play for franchises around the globe.
Titled “The 2022 Men’s Global Employment Report” it claims that 40% of the world’s best T20 men’s players are “free agents” while a further 42% have adopted a hybrid model with their boards which allows them to take their talents wherever there is opportunity.
This means that a staggering 82% of the top 100 T20 cricketers are choosing to prioritise contracts other than with their countries
Tom Moffat the Chief Executive of FICA had earlier warned that the proliferation of T20 cricket leagues was a serious threat to the talent pool in international cricket.
FICA’s findings were derived from the Global Player Survey conducted earlier this year.
Over 400 players across 11 countries, the majority of them international cricketers, took part in the survey sans players from India and Pakistan as neither country has a players’ association affiliated with FICA.
The report by FICA points to an area of concern which is not hidden anymore.
T20 offers more bang for your buck for both the spectators and the players themselves.
In 2021, 485 international matches were played across three formats with 346 T20Is (71%) making up the bulk of the matches.
With lucrative franchises popping up everywhere, the players hold all the cards instead of the governing bodies. Pakistan is also one of the countries which could see a rise in prominent talent jumping ship to franchise leagues.
An increasingly congested international schedule is also to blame for the paradigm shift with players opting to play for a short period and then having ample time to recuperate before shipping off to another country for a rinse and repeat.
Trent Boult, Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham may be credited with being the pioneers but the reality has been evident to all for a while now.
