The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) today released its third Men’s Professional Cricket Global Employment Report 2022.
The Report is the most substantial piece of research conducted with players on a global scale and highlights key trends and issues as the game evolves at a rapid pace.
The Report is based on analysis of significant research and draws on qualitative and quantitative surveying of more than 400 current professional and international players globally, surveying of players’ associations globally, statistical data from Cricket Archive, direct player engagement and other credible sources.
As the world players’ body that brings together all ‘organised’ professional cricketers, FICA’s Reports have been released biennially since 2018 and provide an evidence based analysis of the player employment landscape and structure of the game at global level and across countries.
Three of the key trends highlighted in the Report include:
• Acceleration of the shift towards hybrid and free agency employment status - with 82% of the top 100 T20 players in the world in the world now holding an overseas domestic league contract in addition to their home contract, or being exclusively employed in domestic leagues. This is driven by push and pull factors such as the ability for players to earn more in domestic leagues on a time / wage basis than in international cricket in most countries, unsustainable scheduling and scheduling overlap.
• Acceleration of private ownership, including common franchise ownership across domestic leagues - creating new opportunities whilst disrupting traditional models. The continued growth of the domestic leagues landscape, alongside recent increases in the volume of scheduled ICC Events and bilateral international cricket, without a clear global scheduling framework, continues to raise significant questions of sustainability.
• Ongoing denial of players’ right to organise - with 13% of players facing opposition to forming or joining a players’ association and concerning recent examples of this contrary to the rights that all players should be enjoying and which cricket’s leadership should be protecting.
FICA intends to continue to release its Men’s and Women’s Global Employment Reports biennially and will be releasing its next Women's Global Employment Report in the coming months.
FICA CEO, Tom Moffat said:
"Player decisions continue to impact the direction of the game and understanding these decisions, and the global employment market should be a pre-requisite for good decisions to be made by the game’s leadership. The development of a coherent global structure for the game that ensures international cricket and domestic leagues can co-exist continues to be a pressing priority and it requires global leadership and compromise to find collective solutions.”
“Whilst we are encouraged by recent comments from the ICC Chairman, we remain concerned by ongoing opposition to players forming or joining a players’ association in several countries. Our game should be creating a safe space for players to have a voice in all countries and at global level, and players should not face bullying or intimidation for simply exercising their right to organise, which is protected under international law."
A copy of the report can be accessed HERE or click on the image above.