Contract system a welcome move

Under the new contract system announced by the BCCI, the top 20 players in the country will be paid a lumpsum apart from their match fees, beginning with the South African tour this October.

There can be few arguments against any new package that brings professionalism and offers job security to Test cricketers, who all these years, lived from match to match, though few of them ever faced the prospect of a life of penury out of cricket.

The contract system not only provides a security blanket for the top twenty, but also introduces graded payments, according to seniority and performance.

Here again, it makes sense to reward a top player like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid or Kumble better than a newcomer still finding his feet in international cricket. A hierarchical system operates the world over in most fields of endeavour, and there is no reason why it cannot be introduced in Indian sport. However, the grading of players into A, B, and C category players as proposed has to be done in a totally fair and transparent manner.

According to Anil Kumble, the architect of the new scheme, "The best part of the system is that the game becomes incentive-based from here on." My immediate worry on reading this statement was that such an incentive-based system could drive players to the selfish pursuit of personal goals and achievements, not always in the best interests of the team.

As if to set my doubts to rest, Kumble has also reportedly said, "There is now an incentive to work even harder for the team bonus." The details of the scheme are not yet out, so I assume from this statement that incentives will be on offer to the team as a whole and not for individual performances like hundreds and five-wicket hauls. With individual rewards, there can be situations like a declaration or change of bowling when a batsman or bowler is on the verge of any such milestone, all of which has enormous potential for damage of morale.

A notable feature of the new system is the flexibility that will allow players outside the chosen twenty to be inducted into the national side if they perform exceptionally well and force the selectors to consider them.

This is said to preclude the possibility of an Australian type situation emerging, whereby newcomers find it extremely difficult to break in. The selectors are likely to be hard pressed to substantiate their rationale in looking beyond the top twenty they themselves handpick; and they usually blame some of their inexplicable choices on the lack of talent in the country.

"Any contract system ... to be meaningful in India, should reduce the income gap between Test and other first-class cricketers and incorporate contracts between state associations and their cricketers, making the game an attractive career option to young hopefuls," I had written in a previous column.

To go by reports, this is not being attempted now because it would involve 350 state-level players. However, Kumble has mentioned an incentive-based system for domestic cricket as well. In due course if not straightaway, first class players have to be paid better than they are now, and provided a similar security blanket, as otherwise, there will be dwindling interest in pursuing a cricket career.