Leaked rankings reveal Pat Cummins earns a cool $2million as Australian captain – and you’ll be surprised who’s second on the pay scale
- Test captain Pat Cummins took home $2million from Cricket Australia contract
- Was the third successive year the 29-year-old was the nation’s leading cricketer
- Josh Hazlewood ($1.6 million) & David Warner ($1.5million) also on big CA deals
Confidential rankings released this week have revealed Cricket Australia’s most valuable players – with Test skipper Pat Cummins at the top of the list and one of his fast bowling colleagues rising to second place.
Cummins, 29, earnt a cool $2million thanks to a bonus after he suddenly ascended to the Test captaincy in November 2021 following Tim Paine’s resignation over a sexting scandal.
The skipper topped the list ahead of fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood ($1.6million) who surprised by taking second place.
Batsman David Warner ($1.5million), left-arm quick Mitchell Starc ($1.4million) and stylish batsman Steve Smith ($1.3million) rounded out the top five Cricket Australia contracts.
Confidential rankings released have revealed Cricket Australia’s most valuable players – with Test skipper Pat Cummins (pictured with fiancé Becky Boston) at the top of the list for the third successive year
Cummins, 29, earnt a cool $2million, ahead of fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood (pictured, on $1.6million) and batsman David Warner ($1.5million)
Warner and Steve Smith are comfortably placed in CA’s top ten earners after they were both banned for 12 months following the ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal in 2018 in South Africa
It is also the third successive year Cummins has finished as the nation’s leading cricketer.
Selectors rank players according to their perceived value in Test, one-day and Twenty20 internationals – with players who compete in all three formats of the game deemed the most valuable, according to The Age.
Hazlewood’s elevation to second spot raised a few eyebrows given his injury-marred summer where Australia thrashed England 4-0 across five Tests to retain the Ashes.
His performances at the T20 World Cup – which Australia won in Dubai last November – significantly aided his cause.
He is also ranked third by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a ODI and T20 bowler.
The likes of Warner and Hazlewood have also earnt huge money abroad in recent years when playing in the lucrative T20 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Sponsorship deals also see Australia’s leading cricketers laughing all the way to the bank.
The next year for Australian cricket is a busy one, with Test tours of Sri Lanka, India and England, home Tests against West Indies and South Africa, as well as a T20 World Cup on home soil in October and November.
White-ball specialists, notably Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis, can improve their CA pay packets with Big Bash contracts, with some worth up to $200,000.
Meanwhile, CA has confirmed New Zealand Test great Dan Vettori and Andrew Borovec will be head coach Andrew McDonald’s assistants.
Clint McKay has also secured a support staff role ahead of the tour to Sri Lanka.
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