NSW Opener
New South Wales have secured a major coup with Brendon McCullum, the big-hitting New Zealand wicketkeeper, drafted in to the state’s squad for the Australian domestic Twenty20 final in Sydney on Saturday. McCullum owns the most famous century in the format for his 158 off 73 balls in the opening match of the inaugural Indian Premier League and by playing for the Blues he will immediately qualify for the lucrative Champions League Twenty20 in October.
However, in the same article are these comments from NSW CEO Dave Gilbert which I find most disturbing
“With the potential losses the New South Wales squad may suffer depending on which two IPL teams qualify for the Champions League, it is vital that we strengthen our squad ahead of that tournament,”
What the FúCK! If the qualifying IPL “franchises” contain any New South Wales players, they get to pick OUR players to play for them AGAINST US! I can’t fúcking believe this. Stupid bloódy Indian franchises with their 9 months of history and poxy names, throw cash around to loan our players for the IPL, fair enough they can use the money, but to then have first pick of OUR players AGAINST US is a fúcking outrage.
I think of players such as Dave Warner, Moises Henriques and Stephen Smith who’ve come through the junior development programs we have in place, and there’s obviously a fair investment over a period of time in these players. Now some bollywood wánker gets first bite cause they pony up with a barrow full of rupees?
Surely, at the very least they’ll need to get the player released by their home state, at the discretion of the home state, and with a very large wad of cash exchanging hands. The very notion that these Indian blow-ins own our fúcking players makes my blood boil.
I don’t know all the facts, yet, but that never stopped me before.
Dear “india basher”,
CA pays ur players well, why the hell did they come with begging bowls to a “third world country” which has IPL clubs with funny names and a greedy BCCI to go along with it?
ah!!dont start off saying that the IPL clubs came here to search for good players..are ur country men(read players) dumb that they couldnt open their mouth to say “NO”?Moreover CA and the players know these rules that IPL clubs come first and then their country when it comes to champions league..they could have said NO but they dint coz Moses like it or not MONEY rules!
I don’t believe I’m “bashing India” on this occasion, more so the pathetic administration of our game that would allow our players to be used against us.
Perhaps CA understand that another countries domestic teams have more right to our players than our own teams, but you’re not likely to find many fans of these ráped and pillaged foreign teams who are happy with the practice.
One can’t blame the players either, if these transfers are sanctioned then they’ll obviously follow the money, they are professionals after all. CA and the States should have some balls and hold on to their assets.
Btw, quoting Matthew Hayden is a great way to gain credibility.
Weak administrators?
What about the NZ jellyfish who have banned Prince B (and the 13 others selected for the Aus tour) from playing domestic limited overs cricket this weekend, but allow him to play for the Speedblitz Blues instead?
Doesn’t this happen in football…er….soccer as well ? I don’t hear Portugese domestic teams complaining when ManU plays Christiano Ronaldo against them. as it is Man U never invested in the development of Ronaldo.
Why is it wrong for cricket ?
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Hey bongopondit, thanks for the comments.
That’s an interesting comparison, and while I hate the idea of cricket being run like European Soccer it certainly looks to be the way we’re heading.
When this does go down in April I expect a big outcry when it happens.. To my knowledge CA / Cricket NSW haven’t exactly told their fans to expect their players on the other side..
Moses: Yeah, I don’t like the idea of cricket going the professional football way, but there it is.
And I also agree that shit will hit the fans (no pun intended) when all this comes out.
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I think it was CA’s and CSA’s acquiescence to the IPL teams getting first dibs on players in the Champions League that really showed how weak they were. Or at least how weak they felt themselves to be.
I don’t think that football analogy is a good one. Manchester United bought Ronaldo from Sporting, with the Portuguese club giving up any rights with the fee. The transfer fee was Sporting’s return for their investment in his development. NSW or Western Province or whoever are not getting a fair return if their (by definition) best players cannot play for them in the Champions League. Especially as (I seem to remember) they are not guaranteed any financial compo as the IPL teams’ right to shared players is written into the rules. I know the Australian and South African boards are getting money from the venture but there is an unfairness built into the system, and I don’t see how that represents a good and proper foundation for a sporting contest.
*Moses – Nice to see that this time you’ve spelt the name right in the headline, in contrast to Mr and Mrs McCullum..
On McCullum playing for NSW it really is a slap in the face to all the Grade ‘keepers in Sydney. Haddin’s understudy Smith has played every T20 game for two years and now finds himself ousted by a guy who will I presume play one match. I know from experience that NSW’s cricket is ruthless but this decision takes the cake.
If the Hasselhoff’s don’t make the champions league then Brendon will be part of the NSW setup in that tournament. Which is a good thing for us if we lose our rights to any of our other big hitting players.
I agree this decision is a bit harsh on Daniel Smith, though it must be said his T20 returns of 1*(5), 12(12), 3*(3), 8(4) and 19(16) have not set the world on fire. I read that any CL cash will be divided between the Big Bash players and the CL players so he’ll still get a cut of the bucks.
Thanks for filling in the blanks re Ronadlo, I agree it’s a marked difference in that there’s an above board and well publicised payment where all club rights to the player are traded.
By contrast these IPL deals seem to be with the national boards, leaving the states/provinces with no choice but to agree. In the case of these young players who have state contracts and no national retainer, it really should be up to the state to relelase them.
Is the IPL getting first pick an across the board rule of the CL? Is this a condition that the BCCI put on the competition – you can join our ‘champions league’, but we get first use of your players?
Daniel Smith is named in the 12 for this match too, he could very well play as a fielder.
Simon Keen and Ed Cowan have been dropped for the final.
Fair enough points. If the IPL teams want first use of any state/county players, there should be a payment involved, and certainly not coercion by the BCCI.
The IPL has gone through just one season, so issues such as these are bound to crop up but should eventually get sorted.
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Which is a good thing for us if we lose our rights to any of our other big hitting players.
unless of course kolkata knightriders qualify in which case you will lose prince brendan and the nsw players as well!
the european soccer analogy doesn’t work. this system is far better because ultimately the player has the complete authority to sell his services to the highest bidder or bidders. in soccer you are pretty much a slave stuck to a single team and they could sell you to whoever they see as fit. i hope all the T20 leagues can come to a compromise in which a player can only sign with a maximum number of teams (i would say 2 teams ought to be enough). if nsw wants to protect its “investments”, maybe they ought to give them contracts to begin with? can you really blame warner when the first real contract he ever received was from IPL?
money talks plain and simple. if you want to keep your stars to play for australian franchises, start your own bloody league and make it more financially lucrative than the IPL (btw, goodluck with that!). time to wake up and smell the roses, moses.
I believe that in the European model a player has to also sign – it’s when they’re still in contract that the new club needs to agree to the old clubs terms.. however the club doesn’t own you and can’t force you to go.
Do the players not sign contracts with their state/provinces? Are these contracts waived if the club wants to enter the champions league? Does the state/province have any say in the matter or is this all decided by national boards on their behalf?
I think there’s some confusion here between the IPL and the Champions League. Surely these are two separate entities?
I gather that the BCCI run this Champions League under the guise of a world club competition, so long as their clubs get rights to any conflicted players. Then they only invite the countries that suck up enough. Is that a fair summary?
payment has been involved and already a precedent has been set. WA were quite happy to take the money instead of having hussey in their team. but it never panned out because of the champs league cancellation.
like i said before, there seems to be a precedent in terms of compensation when someone has to front up for an IPL team instead of their state side. i think that’s an adequate compromise. i know at this stage, it seems like a plane being built while its flying but i guess that T20 for you!
confirmed – Smith is still the keeper, we’re playing McCullum as a specialist opener
Well just make sure you don’t injure him getting him to dive around the boundary Moses
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That would be a real shame.. unless he was better in time for the Champions League, then it’d be just fine.
But we’re not talking about the IPL here but the Champions League.
The rule that gives IPL teams primary rights over jointly-contracted players is not a fair one even under the terms you laid out above. It’s one thing if WA were happy to take the money over Hussey, that’s just capitalism, but it is another to insist that they MUST take the money over Hussey; that’s gangsterism. If money is as powerful as you say then the rule is not necessary. The IPL franchises can use their deep pockets to make teams offers they cannot refuse rather than instituting rules that mean they literally cannot refuse.
I guess just like aussie journalists, it’s okay to make shit up. No one is forcing anyone to take any cash. AFAIK we know, WA voluntarily decided that they didn’t want hussey and would rather have the money. So what is this BS about IPL forcing players to choose?
As a counterpoint, if its okay for WA to accept compensation, why can’t IPL teams which actually provide a far more lucrative contract to the player expect and ensure that he plays for them? That is not capitalism?!
Lalit Modi said that shared players would play for their IPL team. I know he comes out with provocative statements all the time and contradicts himself week by week but he definitely said it, so I’m not making this up. Fair enough if he was bullshitting again. I struggle to keep up with everything he comes out with.
To answer your question, the Champions League situation is not laissez faire capitalism because we are not starting from zero. Unlike in the IPL auctions, the players are not agents but commodities. Players like Morné Morkel or Hussey already had a contract with their state/province but were allowed to take part in the IPL because it was outside their domestic season. In that case it would be reasonable to assume that when there is conflict over the ownership of the commodity – the player – then the main/first contract holder should have primacy. By this logic David Warner should ‘belong’ to his franchise over NSW if he signed with the IPL first, as you’ve pointed out.
The IPL teams (or indeed NSW) can make an offer for a player but under free market rules the ‘owner’ should not be compelled to sell. They should be able to judge for themselves the value of the commodity. As an example, someone could offer me US$5,000 for my car and under capitalism I can accept or reject that offer. They might expect me to say yes because that is a lot of money value but there is no mechanism to ensure that I agree.
As a follow-up. A more laissez faire system will probably develop where players have greater agency. They can decide whether to sign for the Knight Riders or the Vics. Fair enough. But current contracts can’t just been torn up.
Well, like I said earlier, the rules are being framed on an ongoing basis. It will take time for all of it to be sorted out. Secondly, don’t trust anything reported by Indian media. Modi is not a dumbass (he looks like one but he is not) that he will be contradicting himself all the time. Usually, its some ratbag leaking something to the press and that gets printed without any fact checking. Aussie media are slowing catching this malaise so it might be useful to be aware and question certain reports when its quite clear that its not from first hand sources.
Second, I don’t see what bearing having signed a player first or second has on which franchise they will play. In Hussey’s case, WA clearly waived that right for a pile of cash. If any Australian state side wants to keep their player, they can compensate the IPL side. Sounds fair to me. Don’t go blaming the IPL because your own state sides would rather take the money and not keep the player.
I don’t like it, you don’t like it but the reality is that money trumps everything else in T20. Its already affecting how Australian states are selecting players and even resorting to dumping them for foreign mercenaries. Times have changed, maybe you should change the tune?
I found some interesting comments by Mike Hussey
Hey…
Moses
BCCI has more money than CA,ECB & CSA combined…You need to understand we are the super power in cricketing world…We can buy any player in the world…and make them play against their own country and players..
..They live in lap of luxury when they play for IPL fanchises..7 star hotels, hot cheerleaders and billion fans cheering for them.What more you want ?.They can never get this level of luxury & enjoyment while playing for NSW and all..lol..Yes NSW players will play for IPL teams and we will beat the crap out of NSW and all…We don’t need Brendon..no good for us.We will buy some other Aussie players .. 
.How abt buying whole Australian team… 
I think Gilly & Hayden retired early just to play in IPL
Chris gayle of W.I prefer playing in IPL more than for his country..lol
How Brendon can play for NSW..isn’t he under contract with KKR ?
He is free to play in any other tournament in any other time except when KKR is involved.Since there’s no KKR in CLT20,there’s no issue.
However,There would have been a slight issue had KKR been involved in CLT20[I can see your laughing
].Then,one of the two teams that has Brandon contracted,had to make some payment to the other team,in order to avail Brandon for the tournament.Like,suppose,Brandon is Contracted for NSW and KKR,if NSW wants him to play for them,then they would need to payout KKR!
He still under KKR..good for NSW..that KKR not playing in CLT20