Salary leak places ECB on back foot
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.England cricket officials yesterday denied leaking the salary details of their international players. They also insisted, rather angrily, that the figures supposedly revealed in a Sunday newspaper were wrong.
The sums of up to £465,000 a year were apparently disclosed in an attempt to demonstrate that players were already earning large sums and therefore should not be lured by the money on offer in the new Twenty20 Indian Premier League.
There was also the suggestion that the England and Wales Cricket Board might want to show that the sums centrally contracted players earn were extremely generous considering the amount of games they played.
An ECB spokesman said: "The ECB do not consider it in the best interests of anybody to reveal the details of remuneration in what are essentially private employer-employee contracts. A newspaper article suggesting band payment structures contained a number of inaccurate and misleading statements."
The timing of the revelations, wrong as they were, could not have been more embarrassing after the humiliating defeat by the somewhat lesser remunerated New Zealand team.
Stephen Harmison, the out of form fast bowler, was singled out for particular opprobrium for his earnings, said to be more than £230,000 for playing seven Tests. The ECB refused to say how much Harmison was paid in 2007 but said it was less than the quoted figure.
The Professional Cricketers' Association said: "This is hardly appropriate."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments