PAYMENT FOR TESTS

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 661, 14 January 1933, Page 12

PAYMENT FOR TESTS

What Australian Players Receive. BIG PROFITS MADE. (Special to the “ Star.”) MELBOURNE. January 6. In view of the profits made from Test matches, many cricket supporters are questioning whether the remuneration of Australian players is sufficient. For each match a player is paid £3O and is allowed 30s a day plus rail fares. To take part in a Test match a player must make sacrifices. Cricket does not give him his living, and constant absences from his regular job handicap him severely when promotions are made. In most cases he has to take his cricket leave without pay. In whatever way the matter is considered his Test fee does not make up for what he loses. Test cricketers are representatives of the nation, comments a writer in the “ Herald ”. The public pays a big sum to see them play. In the last Test in Melbourne the gate money was more than £16,000. The thirteen players (two in reserve) received a trifle under £4OO, excluding the amount paid for rail fares, or, roughly three per cent of the gross takings. The money paid to a player is a flat rate. No consideration is given to a man’s drawing power. A popular batsman may make a difference of many hundreds of pounds in the gate, but he receives no more. A Test match may be a very long affair. The one completed recently in Melbourne occupied only four days, which is unusually short. When four days were allowed in England it was rare for a Test to be finished. The longer a Test lasts the worse it is for the player with a job. Payment of Umpires. Umpires are treated worse than players. They receive £lO a match with 30s a day expenses and rail fares. When they are out of their own State the £lO is raised to £ls. It is argued that an umpire is deserving of better pay because, whereas a player has his moments of leisure, an umpire is working right through a match at a high pitch of concentration. It is not that cricket cannot afford to pay more. The game has developed into a huge business, although little of the financial side of it is known to the public which provides the money. It is estimated that the Board’s management of the international side of cricket costs about £IOOO a year. Most of the money is spent on meetings. There are thirteen delegates, and the recent meeting in Melbourne which lasted four days is estimated to have cost £250. The board meets about three times a year. Tho Board’s Expenses. Rail fares of delegates from other States are the major expense. They amount approximately, to £145. Two delegates come from Brisbane, one from Perth, three from Sydney, three from Adelaid and one from Tasmania. No fees are paid to delegates, but they receive travelling expenses and 30s a day. | These expenses amount to about £IOO ' for a four-day meeting.

Other expenses of the board are the secretary’s salary (£100), allowances to selectors, and correspondence. The Board of Control accumulates no funds, and is merely a clearing house for the six State cricket associations. It is financed either by Test match profits or contributions from the State associations in non-Test years. The cricket association of the State in which a Test match is played takes 75 per cent of the Australian share of the profits. The Board of Control distributes the other 25 per cent among the States according to their representation. Profits from Test matches overseas are distributed by the board, which has power to retain up to 10 per cent for working expenses.