Australia is arguably the most successful cricketing team in the world. They have won the 50-overs ICC Cricket World Cup a record five times, including a hat-trick of times from 1999 to 2007, and they have won the T20 World Cup in 2021. The men-in-yellow has also bagged the ICC Champions Trophy 2 times (winning it in 2006 and defending it in 2009). Apart from the white-ball glories, the Aussies have also been the boss in Test format. In short, Australia can be termed cricket’s heavyweight.
The relatively small yet a sporting country has produced some of the finest cricketers and has consistently been the side to beat since the commencement of international cricket. Across different generations, the Aussies have, time and again, built a side that has topped the ranking charts courtesy of some individual and collective brilliance.
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The Australian team is governed by Cricket Australia, one of the world’s biggest & richest cricket boards. They, along with BCCI (Indian cricket board) and ECB (governing English Cricket), are sometimes called the Big 3 of international cricket. Pat Cummins leads them in the Test and ODI format, while a replacement for retired Aaron Finch is yet to be named in the T20I format. Former Aussie all-rounder Andrew McDonald was the head coach of the team, while legendary Kiwi spinner Daniel Vettori was among the support staff.
Australia centrally contract players list for the year 2023-24
Cricket Australia announced 24 members who were awarded central contracts for the year from March 2023 leading up to February 2024, which is an increase from last year. But the only notable absence from last year is former Australian skipper Aaron Finch, who announced his international retirement in February.
CA Centrally Contracted Players
David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa, Jhye Richardson, Todd Murphy, Lance Morris, Michael Neser, Sean Abbott
According to the CA structure, a player not in this list will be added or an existing player can be upgraded in the contract courtesy of the number of games he represents the country in that calendar year across the three formats. For instance, if a player plays a Test match, he shall be awarded 5 points, while playing ODI and T20I format is worth 2 and 1 point, respectively. When a player who is not on the list accumulates 12 points in one year, then he will upgrade/be eligible to enter the list.
Australian cricketers’ salary
Pat Cummins, named the captain of the Australia Test team just before the Ashes last year, is topping the list of highest contractual earners in Australian cricket. The pacer earns AUD 2 million, which amounts to 16 crores in INR, and this includes a bonus of $200K, which he is entitled to earn as the captain of the national team.
The other top earners when it comes to the Australian cricket team are Josh Hazlewood, who netted $1.6 Million in AUD, and 3rd comes opener David Warner who gets $1.5 million per year. Pacer Mitchell Starc, vice-captain Steven Smith, and star batter Marnus Labuschagne get AUD 1.4 million, $1.3 million, and $1.2 million each.
Apart from this, a player named in the national squad earns match fees depending on which format they play. If the player is named in the Australian Test squad, a match fee of AUD 20,000. And the cricketers featured in ODI and T20I Squad get match fees of $15,000 and $10,000, respectively.
The players also earn through promotions, playing in BBL and franchise cricket worldwide, and advertisements.
Here are the top earners in Australian cricket in the annual contract offered by CA and their respective match fees:
| Player Name | Retainer Fees | Test Fees | ODI Fees | T20I Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Cummins | $2 million | $20,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| Josh Hazlewood | $1.6 million | $20,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| David Warner | $ 1.5million | $20,000 | $15 000 | $10,000 |
| Mitchell Starc | $1.4 million | $20,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| Steve Smith | $1.3 million | $20,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | $1.2 million | $20,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| Nathan Lyon | $1.1 million | $20,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
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