Further Evidence that the 50 over Competition is to be De-valued

Counties planning to bring in cheap club players to cover for absent Hundred stars next summer

By MATT HUGHES and RICHARD GIBSON FOR THE DAILY MAIL

A number of counties are planning to recruit club cricketers on short-term contracts that will not pay the sport's minimum wage due to concerns about losing players to The Hundred next summer.

Sportsmail revealed on Saturday that appearances in the 50-over competition will not be included in the performance-based criteria used to determine if players receive the minimum £27,500 salary negotiated by the players' union. 

A desire by counties to bolster their squads during The Hundred is the main reason for this exclusion.

All 18 first-class counties will receive a handout of £1.3million from the ECB for releasing players to the eight Hundred franchises — as well as a rebate of around 12 per cent of each player's salary — but there are still concerns that the new competition will have a negative impact on their seasons.

With the vast majority of players expected to enter next month's auction, the leading counties fear they could be without as many as eight or nine players when The Hundred takes place next July and August, leaving them short of players for the One-Day Cup, which will run at the same time.

As a result many counties plan to play club cricketers alongside youngsters in what the ECB have admitted will become a 'development competition'. 

But they are reluctant to pay these short-term recruits the minimum wage. If One-Day Cup matches were part of the PCA agreement, the counties would be forced to pay £27,500 to relatively inexperienced players for just four weeks' work.

The anticipated influx of club players will be another blow to domestic 50-over cricket, the format in which England were crowned world champions for the first time in July. 

The One-Day Cup has already seen its status diminish dramatically this summer despite the huge interest in limited-overs cricket. Sponsors Royal London have withdrawn and the final has been switched from Lord's to Trent Bridge.

ECB's 'developmental' 50-over competition excluded from criteria to earn county cricket's new minimum wage

A basement salary of £27,500 a year for contracted players was one of aspects the Professional Cricketers' Association championed as a non-negotiable 

To qualify for a full-time contract, players will have to reach a 20-point threshold:

Four points will be accrued for a Count Championship appearance and two for playing in a Vitality Blast fixture

The performance-based criteria for players to earn county cricket's new minimum wage is to exclude the ECB's 'developmental' 50-over competition.

A basement salary of £27,500 a year for contracted players was one of the aspects that the Professional Cricketers' Association championed as a non-negotiable when it signed off on English cricket's new county partnership agreement - the mechanism for the distribution of funds within the game - just over two months ago.

To automatically qualify for a full-time contract for the 2020 season onwards, though, individuals will have to reach a 20-point threshold, with four points accrued for a County Championship appearance and two for playing in a Vitality Blast fixture.

However, in documentation seen by Sportsmail, it is made clear that appearances in the Royal London Cup - the domestic competition emerging players are most likely to feature in, particularly as it clashes with the inaugural Hundred tournament next summer - carry zero points.

England captain Joe Root, his deputy Ben Stokes and Jason Roy are just three examples of players who were given their head in one-day cricket before debuting in the Championship.

This season, players earn two points for such an appearance and anyone reaching a tally of 24 would have a game-by-game or rookie contract upgraded on doing so, in readiness for 2020.

The tougher stance by the players' union towards members' wages - a player of 21 or older in their second season on a playing staff also automatically qualifies for the minimum pay - follows a perception that some clubs have exploited players desperate for a chance in the professional game with incentivised low-scale deals or overly lengthy trial periods.

The PCA on Friday announced that South African Tony Irish - head of the international players' union FICA - will succeed David Leatherdale as its chief executive in the new year.

By RICHARD GIBSON FOR THE DAILY MAIL