Pat Cummins opens up on the rise of franchise cricket

In the past year, a lot of cricketers have given up on their national contracts to feature in franchise cricket tournaments around the world. New Zealand pacer Trent Boult has been the face of the change while England’s Jason Roy is the latest inductee in the club. Notably, a few reports suggest that Indian Premier League franchises, which also have businesses on foreign soil, want to sign more players on a long-term basis and that might change the fate of international cricket going forward.

Speaking about the same, Australia skipper Pat Cummins stated that the IPL has eventually ended international cricket’s monopoly on players’ time. The 30-year-old also clarified that he wants all his teammates to focus more on international cricket, despite lucrative offers from franchises.

“It’s been coming for a while, but I think it is here now. International cricket doesn’t have a monopoly on players’ time like it did in the past. The IPL changed that a decade ago, but there’s just going to be more and more content that creeps in, so I think we’ve got to be proactive about that,” Cummins was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

“We have to keep making playing for Australia as special as we can, I think it’s upon us now, and we’ve got to start thinking about that quite deeply. I think fast-forward a few years’ time, a 12-month international calendar might look a little bit different,” the pacer added.

I don’t think you can blame players that might take that option: Pat Cummins

Even though Cummins wants players to continue playing international cricket, he, however, understands if a few of them sign for various franchises going forward. The cricketer believes that just like in other sports, national teams may have to take permission from franchises in order to let them play international cricket.

“When you’re talking about some of the opportunities that may be provided through the franchises, I don’t think you can blame players that might take that option. I see the day where that (a franchise release) happens. I think it’s reality. You’ve seen it in other sports. So again, we’ve got to keep selling why playing for Australia is so special. We still want the best players winning World Cups for us, winning big series. But obviously, there are more competing interests than there were in the past,” Cummins added.