It is “completely naive” to think players will turn down lucrative long-term contracts with T20 franchises in favor of international deals, says England Test coach Brendon McCullum.
This would give the Indian Premier League side control of their schedule and the power to release it for England.
“At the end of the day, the game is going in a different direction,” McCullum said.
Speaking to SENZ Radio in his native New Zealand, he added: “We would be completely naive to think that players would turn down huge sums of money on long-term contracts for much less work in these T20 leagues. because they should be playing international cricket.
“Those days are fast approaching.”
Instead, McCullum, who coached the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL before taking the England job last year, said the advice needed to be “fluid” when dealing with the issue.
The main central contracts awarded to England players are worth around £1m a year, but the versatile Sam Curran will earn £1.85m for eight weeks’ work at this year’s IPL.
The owners of the Mumbai Indians also have teams in the T20 leagues in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, where the Major League cricket tournament begins this summer.
“It’s definitely a changing landscape and you just have to be fluid,” McCullum said.
“You have to work with these players, work with these leagues and try to allow players to have their cake and eat it too because you want your best players to play.”
McCullum said England should focus on creating a great environment for the players so that “the experiences they have in an England shirt are so great that they are ready to keep putting the yards in.” [in] although it may not be as financially viable as some other leagues.”
“We’re also a bit lucky because the amount of money we can pay players is better than some of the other boards in the world,” he added.
“It’s not enough to say ‘If they don’t want to play international cricket for us, then we’ll move on and find someone different’.
“As a spectator, you want to see the best players in the world representing their country.”
