Cummins and Head offered about $10m a year to quit internationals

Australian captain Pat Cummins and vice-captain Travis Head were informally offered roughly 10 million dollars a year each to abandon international cricket and play full time for a global network of Twenty20 franchise teams, according to senior cricket figures. The approaches, reportedly made by an ownership group linked to the Indian Premier League this year, were declined by both players, who remain committed to representing Australia.

The offers surfaced during discussions between Cricket Australia, state associations and the players union about the future of the domestic Big Bash League, according to the sources. Those involved in the talks used the proposals as an example of how lucrative franchise opportunities are drawing elite players away from national contracts, and as an argument for inviting private capital into the Big Bash to increase player pay and integrate the league into the wider global T20 ecosystem.

Top contracted Australian players typically earn about 1.5 million Australian dollars a year from national deals, while Cummins’s remuneration rises to about 3 million when his captaincy stipend is included. Both Cummins and Head also earn significant sums in...