CA to consider player draft

Cricket Australia is considering introducing a player draft to evenly distribute the country’s talented youth and compete with rival sports.

A meeting involving Australian cricket’s heavyweights is scheduled for Thursday in Sydney, including CA’s general manager of team performance Pat Howard, the Australian Cricketer’s Association and state association representatives who will canvas ideas on a range of topics, from a draft to rookie contracts and player salaries.

“We’re not after all athletes but we want to make sure we keep the cricketers. I’m open to things like drafts,” Howard told Fairfax on Monday.

“We’re going to throw a whole heap of things on the table.”

New South Wales produces more first-class cricketers than it can field, forcing quality players like Phil Hughes, Jackson Bird and Usman Khawaja to ply their trade in other states in search of regular opportunities.

A draft is an option to filter talent throughout the state system and balance the talent pool.

"We want the top 150-odd contracted players in the country playing and we want them spread around the nation and making sure that competitiveness is there," Howard said.

"We see it happen occasionally – the Cowans and Birds head off to Tasmania, Pete Forrest headed to Queensland and Ryan Harris moved to Queensland. But we've got an opportunity to get that talent spread and make sure that competition at domestic level is very competitive."

Australian Rules football is seen as the biggest threat to cricket’s developing athletes, with more AFL clubs around Australia providing more opportunities for aspiring sportsmen.

Currently states can offer six rookie contracts, but cannot spend more than $132,000, with contracts ranging from $22,000 to $44,000.

Compared to the AFL, rookies earn a minimum of $53,875 with three times the number of spots available, and Howard is well aware that rookie retention is vital to the national team’s future.

"Should we look at how we deal with rookies, by increasing the number of contracts or making sure there is an opportunity there for a long period and a better offer?" Howard said.

"We introduced BBL rookies last year to give those talented kids an opportunity at the back end of a squad.

“We think that was a good start but we think we've got to have a mechanism there for when a kid is 17, 18, 19 and maybe getting a draft offer and a contract from another sport that we've got something equally as compelling.

"We've got 160-odd contracted spots and (the other codes) have significantly more than that.

“But our view is in cricket you've got the longest career span, you can play for your country and you've got the highest average wage ... it's well into the $300,000s, and that's without the IPL.

“So we think we've got a really attractive offer but we've obviously got to be very competitive."