Kamal Ghorui
Australia captain Pat Cummins has strongly denied claims made senior Australian cricketers could consider skipping the home summer to participate in lucrative overseas franchise leagues.According to report in The Age a group of Australia’s leading players, including Cummins, may seek no-objection certificates (NOCs) to feature in South Africa’s SA20 tournament in 2028 if they are not offered salaries closer to their market value in the Big Bash League (BBL). It also stated that Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc had received offers worth around $800,000 to participate in The Hundred this year.The original report highlighted the growing financial pressure created by franchise cricket around the world, with tournaments such as SA20 and The Hundred reportedly offering contracts significantly higher than what top Australian players currently earn in the BBL.It further suggested that Cricket Australia is exploring changes to the BBL structure, including the possibility of scrapping the overseas draft system, in an attempt to redirect more money toward Australian players.However, Cummins quickly shut down the claims after the story gained traction online. Responding publicly, the Australian skipper wrote on X: “Everything you’ve written about me in this about SA20 NOC and The Hundred offer is made up.”Cummins had earlier spoken broadly about the increasing financial pull of franchise leagues during an appearance on the Business of Sport podcast. “Obviously a big Ashes series – all the main guys want to play that series,” Cummins had said on the Business of Sport podcast. “For example, during the Hundred this season we’ve got two Test matches against Bangladesh. All our guys that will play in that Test match have opted out of going to the Hundred auction, but that’s not going to be the case forever,” Cummins added. “Some of our guys are saying no to half a million pounds for 20 days’ work to go and play those two Test matches against Bangladesh. I think it is a tension point. At the moment, our guys are so keen to play for Australia that they’re happy to forgo that, but I don’t think we can accept that that is going to be the case forever,” Cummins concluded.
