England paceman Jofra Archer has reportedly been offered a deal that could change the landscape of cricket.
Archer, who plays in the IPL for the Mumbai Indians, has been tabled a year-round contract that would give his franchise control over when he plays international cricket for England, according to the Daily Mail.
Given Archer has often been injured across the last five years, the multi-million-dollar contract would give Mumbai more control over the quick as IPL teams look to make permanent contracts more frequent.
Such a deal would give Mumbai the ability to dictate whether Archer could play in this year’s World Cup and Ashes series, and England coach Brendon McCullum believes governing bodies like the ECB would be naïve to think that players would turn down such deals given the financial benefits.
“In the end, the game is going in a different direction,” McCullum told SENZ Breakfast.
“The last few years, there's been a shifting of the sand somewhat around international cricket and we'd be completely naive to think that players would turn down huge amounts of money on long-term contracts for a lot less work in these T20 leagues because they should be playing international cricket.
“Those days are fast approaching to be over.
“So, what you've got to do is you’ve got to work with these players, you got to work with these leagues and try and allow ideally players to have their cake and eat it too because you want your best players playing (international cricket).
“It's not good enough to say, ‘You know what if they don't want to play international cricket for us, then bugger them … we'll move on and find someone different’, because as a spectator, you want to see the best players in the world representing their countries.
“I think you've got to work with them and that's something which we'll be challenged with.”
Given it’s likely that players will have the ability to earn more for their franchises, McCullum says it will rest on governing bodies to ensure that players still want to return to their international teams.
McCullum also believes that England are lucky in the sense that they can offer players more money to play international cricket compared to other ICC nations.
“The thing from our point of view is how do we ensure that when that decision comes, they're thinking about how great of a time they have representing the England Test side,” McCullum said.
“How much fun they've had, how much those experiences which they've been able to get in an England shirt is so great that they are prepared to continue to put their yards and even though it might not be as financially viable as some of the other leagues.
“But I think we (England) are a little bit lucky too because the amount of money that we can pay players is better than some of the other (cricket) boards around the world.
“But it is a shift, it's definitely a shifting landscape and you've just got to be fluid.”
Archer was bought by Mumbai for more than $1.1 million (NZD) in the last IPL auction.
The 28-year-old has been plagued by elbow injuries in recent months as he’s played just five of the 10 matches so far for Mumbai this IPL campaign.