PCA Volunteer Furlough Agreement

County players agree to furlough, waive £UK1m in prize money.
Ali Martin and Paul Rees.

The Guardian.

Thursday, 9 April 2020.

PTG 3078-15238.

After a week of talks over the financial impact of Covid-19, the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) announced on Wednesday that an agreement to cover the months of April and May – the portion of the season already written off – has now been reached.  Professional in England and Wales have waived £UK1 million ($A2m) in prize money as part of a deal brokered with the 18 first-class counties and the England and Wales Cricket Board (EWCB).  

More than half this year’s prize money has been ceded by the players, with the understanding that all contracts will adopt the latest terms and anyone released by their club at the end of the season – around 130 deals are said to be up – will get support.  The union has also established that any pay cuts during the next two months will be “consistent with reductions made to other non-playing staff at their county” and said that any requests to furlough players in the short term will be accepted.

The majority of counties are expected to make use of the government’s job retention scheme for their playing squads, with Essex, Leicestershire and Kent having now joined Yorkshire and Worcestershire as clubs to have confirmed this (PTG 3076-15231, 7 April 2020).  

Daryl Mitchell, the Worcestershire batsman who serves as the PCA chairman, said: “The understanding from our players and the willingness to help has been particularly heartening. Like many industries, cricket recognises the challenges it currently faces; the players have been alert to the need for them to play their part.  The pandemic will continue to put financial pressure on the game and this initial two-month agreement will support the game for the period of April and May”.

Last week England’s centrally contracted men announced a joint £UK500,000 ($A1.1m) wage donation back to the EWCB and selected “good causes”, while the women have taken pay cuts in line with those of their support staff (PTG 3073-15214, 4 April 2020).  One suggestion was that the wage donation be used to help cricket’s grassroots initiatives (PTG 3077-15232, 8 April 2020).

English cricket remains united... for now.

Nick Hoult.

London Daily Telegraph.
Wednesday, 8 April 2020.
PTG 3078-15243.

County cricket is a small world and often that is cited as its weakness, but during this pandemic it is a strength that has brought the game closer together, thus avoiding the painful recriminations over pay that have damaged other sports during this crisis.  In less than two weeks, the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), the England and Wales Cricket Board (EWCB) and the counties have agreed a pay deal across the domestic game. It is quite an achievement given there are 18 counties, with 18 different business models and 18 levels of income from Surrey with its annual turnover of £UK37.1 million ($A74m) to Derbyshire’s £UK4.2m ($A8.4m).

Only two counties, Surrey and Lancashire, will not be furloughing their playing staff but an agreement has been reached on minimum top-ups to players’ salaries and guarantees that clubs will not use this as a chance to lay off cricketers and cut their outgoings (PTG 3078-15238 above).

It protects income in the short term, but for the 140 players in the final year of their contracts, which roughly equates to one in three members of the PCA, the future is far from certain. If there is no cricket this northern summer how will it be decided if their contracts are to be renewed without performances to analyse? It is especially worrying for red ball specialists with staging one-day cricket the priority now.

“Normally it's black and white: you're judged on performance, runs and wickets are your currency. But if we play no red-ball cricket whatsoever, what happens?”, Sussex’s Luke Wells told Cricinfo last week.

Officials at the PCA are braced for more players than ever to be released this northern winter as job cuts are inevitable with big financial losses almost certain for already stretched counties even if some of the summer is salvaged.  It will be a double hit for players because they will be entering the general jobs market at the worst possible time. It is why one of the main elements of pay talks over the past fortnight has been around guaranteeing the three-month, end-of-contract pay-off that was negotiated last year as part of the counties’ memorandum of understanding.

The average retirement age of professional cricketers is 26. Some are well paid at the bigger counties but not many across the 18 clubs earn six-figure salaries. There are around 400 professional players in England with quite a few young academy cricketers earning between £18-£20,000 ($A35,970-39,965). The new minimum wage came into force this summer of £UK27,500 ($A54,950) and a not inconsiderable number of the PCA’s members are on that kind of salary. 

Exact figures are not known but the new deal between the PCA and counties allows the union to see each signed contracts, giving them the ability to build a database of earnings to help negotiate future agreements.  As with all employee/employer relationships there is suspicion and one or two counties have tried to push the limits, but generally the debate behind the scenes has been “grown up” according to one well placed source.

“Across the game the board there has been a real awareness of we are in this together”, said another. One county chief executive rated the EWCB’s performance in this crisis as “nine out of ten”. Rare praise indeed. While football eats itself over money, English cricket is holding itself together. So far.

Whereas football is awash with money and clubs owned by billionaires, county cricket is still a relic of an old age largely run by unpaid, elected chairmen. The salary gap between players and non-playing staff is much smaller and the cricketers know the very existence of their clubs is on the line, hence the feeling of unity.  The fact the season is about to start has also focussed minds. Falling out now at the start of this shutdown would make returning to cricket harder and players remain hopeful they will be back on the field at some point this summer. Many will know their counties might not survive a total shutdown.

Picking out which club is the most vulnerable is not as straightforward as it looks. It is all too easy to point the finger at Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Northants. But the smaller counties rely mainly on EWCB payments, rather than hotels, golf courses and conference facilities that have been monetised by the Test match grounds.  EWCB payments make up around 66-75 per cent of income for smaller counties. It is easier to mothball them for a summer without the losses stacking up as facilities go unused. One small county said the only event they had in the diary that had to be cancelled was a wake. It was not a joke. This is not the time for black humour. 

Suspicion between employers and employees remains. The England players have ‘donated’ £UK500,000 ($A1.1m) to the EWCB rather than a pay cut and asked for a portion to go to grassroots cricket because they did not want the money spent on propping up events such as the Hundred or bailing out failing counties (PTG 3077-15232, 8 April 2020).   For their part, the England team have been accessible with press conferences twice a week (managing director Ashley Giles is next up) in an attempt to keep cricket in the media spotlight.  Jos Buttler raised £UK65,800 ($A136,900) for the Royal Brompton Hospital this week by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt and the players are expected to make further ‘donations’ to the ECB as the cricketing calendar is pushed further back by corona.

Cricket has been hit by an express train just when it was ready to capitalise on England’s World Cup win last year. At the moment its unity is its strength. How long that lasts is another matter.

BBCSport

County players have agreed a voluntary "support package" that will set "maximum reductions" to salaries during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Professional Cricketers' Association - together with the ECB and 18 first-class counties - have reached an initial agreement for April and May.

Players will agree to be furloughed if requested, with county champions Essex among those to ask theirs to do so.

They will also take pay cuts, with the PCA giving up £1m in 2020 prize money.

Following the PCA's announcement, Essex - who also won the T20 Blast last year - confirmed they have placed their players and the majority of non-playing staff on temporary leave until further notice.

"The club will operate with reduced staff throughout April, with regular assessments taking place beyond that," said chief executive Derek Bowden.

"We hope that this will be for as short a period of time as possible and that we can all get back to work and enjoy some cricket in the near future."

Fellow Championship Division One side Kent have put "the majority" of their players on furlough until at least the start of May, with captain Sam Billings agreeing a pay cut despite remaining on duty to support the club's community work.

Meanwhile, batsman Joe Denly - on a separate England central contract - will also "continue to support the club".

"This outcome has not been reached lightly and I want to thank all of our players who are standing shoulder to shoulder with their colleagues during the pandemic," said Kent director of cricket Paul Downton.

Division Two club Leicestershire have also introduced a furlough, but for a specified period of three weeks, while Derbyshire are not giving a timeframe following their decision to adopt the agreement.

"Our income stream has, largely, come to a halt with the postponement of fixtures and virtually all other activities at the Fischer County Ground," said Leicestershire chairman Mehmooda Duke.

"The whole club has been kept informed and is in unison regarding the furloughing process."

Yorkshire and Worcestershire had previously confirmed that they were using the government's job retention scheme.

The Championship season was scheduled to begin on Sunday but has been delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Some counties have told BBC Sport they are preparing for potentially no cricket at all to be played in 2020.

"The understanding from our players and the willingness to help has been particularly heartening," said PCA chairman Daryl Mitchell, and also an all-rounder for Worcestershire.

"As a group of players, we will do everything we can to ensure that when cricket does return the sport is in a position to thrive."

Domestic prize money will also be relinquished as part of the agreement. BBCSport