New business model to benefit players

Cricket South Africa (CSA), the South African Cricketers Association (SACA), and the country's six professional franchises have agreed on a business model expected to make professional players "genuine stakeholders in the game." The agreement includes standardised contracts and benefits for players and regulations on the number of playing contracts.

"The Memorandum of Understanding provides for salary minimums and salary caps and for optimal use of South Africa's player resources through regulations relating to player transfers, player loan-outs and playing overseas in the off-season," Norman Arendse, the president of CSA, announced at a press conference in Johannesburg.

Arendse said that the primary objectives included dealing with annual revenue fluctuations and stating how fundamental player issues would be dealt with. "The model enables longer term financial forecasting and planning for the provision of funds to amateur cricket for the development of the game," he said.

Tony Irish, the chief executive of the SACA, added that the initiative for the MoU came from the SACA and the players themselves. "We had a good look at what we believed was best practice relating to professional cricketers around the world [and] presented this to CSA and since then we have shared a common vision, which has resulted in the MoU."

According to Irish, the MoU projects and averages South African cricket's revenues over a four-year period and links what the players will earn to the financial position of the game. "For players this really means stake-holding in the game, like being a shareholder in a company," said Irish. "What players will receive in the future will depend on how successful the game actually is, and as players we will obviously work with the other stakeholders to make it as healthy as possible into the future."

Ashwell Prince, the South African batsman and president of the SACA, said that cricket's number one stakeholder was the paying public and that the players were aware that more would be expected of them in the future. "They [the public] are our supporters and are the ones who will ultimately determine the game's success," said Prince. "The way we play our cricket and how we contribute to the game both on and off the field in the eyes of the public will be the key."