Player movement set to increase as contracts bed in

A great migration may be about to occur in New Zealand domestic cricket over the next few years.

The introduction of contracts has provided a new scenario for players and, already it is clear that in some areas of the country, the window of opportunity is narrowing for players while in others it is open wide.

Brendon McCullum's decision to move from Otago to Canterbury is but one example of the implications of the contract era.

Apart from the wicketkeeping and batting hole he leaves in Otago, there is the question, which it is to be assumed has not been broached but may well be in the future, of the return for the investment made by Otago in his development.

Under normal circumstances having made that investment, Otago might be entitled to feel that it is due some form of transfer payment.

The notion of contracts and transfers is so new in New Zealand sport, an obvious result of the introduction of more professional sport, that no-one has yet bothered to test some of these matters in court.

Given the tight state of many sports bodies budgets, this despite the professionalisation of sport, that is probably not surprising.

But somewhere along the way, someone is going to test the situation in law and some interesting results are on the cards.

McCullum is by no means the first player to move provinces, nor will he be the last. Player movement is a fact of life.

However, under the contract system in place for international and first-class players in New Zealand, his arrival in Canterbury does have immediate impact on the earning capacity of other players.

Match fees that other players might have expected in the forthcoming summer will now be taken up by McCullum, reducing the prospective livelihoods of other players. Those other players are faced with two alternatives - giving up cricket as their job, or moving provinces.

It would be no surprise if Canterbury's favoured wicketkeeper of last summer Gareth Hopkins is now looking southward for his opportunity.

With the concentration of top players in the three main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury an undeniable fact, and a not unexpected one given their respective population base, players below the international rung must be wondering if they would be better served moving to other areas to get more cricket, and by consequence more money?

The lower rung players know that by staying in their areas, their ability to earn more will be directly affected by how many international players line up during the season for provincial games.

Far better for them to have an assured income with a lesser province than a speculative existence in the more populous centre.

However, this prospect of movement, has its own problems. All centres, large or small, with several international players or not, develop players at some expense.

If players from bigger centres migrate to the smaller centres in their droves, what does that do for the local product in the smaller centre where development costs are understandably higher. Is his window for selection significantly reduced? Does he stick with the game? Or does he give up, drop out of the game altogether, as the result of disillusionment, and weaken the club structure in his area?

In the bigger centres, if players want to stay in their own area and not move, what incentive is there to put in the hard hours of preparation during the winter to be squeezed out by incoming outsiders?

Should that player decide it is not worth it, how much does that affect the club competition below. He is purely playing for enjoyment, and not putting in the extra to be more competitive which has its own method of raising the level of performance in the club grades.

The whole intention of the contract system was to make sure the best 66 players were on the field at a given time when everyone was available, or the best 77 if the top 11 were out on international duty.

And just what this means for those trying to organise provincial contracts doesn't bear thinking about. If an approach is made to a player to be given a specific grade of contract, and then another, higher-ranked player becomes available through transfer, what does that do to the contract being offered to the original player.

Contracts may have changed the face of the New Zealand cricket scene, but the settling-in process is far from over and interesting, and testing, days lie ahead as New Zealand Cricket attempts to address grass roots issues in the game while also trying to sustain its top players.