The Indian Premier League auction has injected a new lease of life to England cricket. Earlier youngsters were not very enthusiastic in joining cricket because of low pay a cricketer earns. They preferred football over cricket. A good county player can earn around £100,000 a year but majority of them get about £70,000 for slogging throughout the year playing 4-day cricket, 50-over and Twenty20 matches.
But all this attitudes will change now after English players made it rich at the IPL auction. At the auction at least six English cricketers were picked for mind blogging figures. Ben Stokes became IPL's most expensive import when Rising Pune Supergiants shelled out £1.73 million on him. Tymal Mills' story is more interesting. Before touring India with England recently, the injury-plagued left arm pace bowler had just one international cap. Yet such was the impression he made in the three-match T20 series that seven of the eight IPL franchises expressed interest in him. He was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4 million. Chris Woakes - £504,000, Eoin Morgan - £240,000, Jason Roy- 120,000, Chris Jordan - £60,000, were the other cricketers picked in the auction. Jos Buttler and Sam Billings were already contracted.
Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills were on the crossroads before the auction. Ben Stokes was on the fourth anniversary of being sent home in disgrace from Lions tour of Australia. Mills was in a dilemma due to a congenital back condition for the last two years. It looked as if he would be forced to retire, but with support from his county Sussex, Mills opted to become a T20 specialist, bowling rapid four-over bursts. Mills has been hugely successful as a free lance cricketer, playing in Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh to supplement his £40,000- a- year county deal. He was sold for 24 times the £60,000 price on his head when Mumbai Indians began the bidding.
But one thing is certain. The youngsters will now concentrate more on the shorter version of the game. There are just too many great leagues around the world these days where you can earn good money. These leagues are now hugely popular, cricket is good and the events attractive for fans to attend, while international cricket still lacks real context. The younger players now must be thinking more towards making sure their game is geared to the shorter version. The very best can play all formats, but that is only a few. The Tymal Mills story is just a reminder that if you go through difficulty as a young player playing the longer version of the game, there is another option.
Now the authorities also have a role to play in attracting more and more talent. They have to encourage their players to play league matches so that they can earn a good sum and set an example for others to follow. The England and Wales Cricket Board has to find money to make sure that county players are earning decent amount, otherwise the new generation will be wanting to play the shorter version than the international cricket.
