Advertisement

Joe Root anticipating talks over England pay cuts as cricket looks to cope with financial impact of coronavirus

AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

Joe Root believes that pay cuts for England's top stars will be on the agenda before long as cricket looks to navigate the coronavirus crisis.

The ECB is due to unveil a rescue package for the sport soon, but pay cuts for the likes of Root and Ben Stokes, whose central contracts are worth around £1million per year, are not yet on the table.

Professional cricket saw its first loss of life relating to Covid-19 on Monday, when Lancashire announced that their chairman David Hodgkiss had died aged 71.

Hodgkiss had contracted coronavirus but had underlying health issues.

Professional cricket is suspended in England until at least May 28 and counties have furloughed non-playing staff to alleviate the loss of gate earnings that this summer will bring.

Some counties will look to furlough players, too.

“I’m sure at some point in the coming weeks there will be a discussion,” said captain Root when asked if he expected players to take a pay cut.

“But I'm also aware they are discussions that will take place between the PCA and the ECB. That’s not my area of expertise.

"I think we just have to concentrate on making sure we are as fit and as ready to go as we can be for whenever we get back to playing cricket.”

England’s tour of Sri Lanka was cut short earlier this month, but Root says he has not yet picked up a bat in his time away from the game. He is aware that the whole summer could be wiped out.

“It has definitely crossed my mind, it is a possibility,” he said. “But I think we have to try to stay optimistic, try to take things day by day, not get too ahead of ourselves.

"We’ve just got to be ready for whenever that opportunity to play again is.

“We’ve just got to stay fit, obviously can’t do much in terms of actual practice, hitting balls and bowling and stuff like that. Might be that my wife has to start giving me some throwdowns in the back garden but until things become that drastic it will be simply sit tight and wait.

"If that happens, then we’ll just have to adapt, make the most of those circumstances as a cricket community coming together and doing the best for the game.”

Read more

Lions and SA Rugby working on plan to avoid direct 2021 Olympics clash

Grealish ‘deeply embarrassed’ after breaching coronavirus guidelines

Liverpool summer plans scrapped as coronavirus wrecks havoc