Giles Clarke: 'It must be right that our players can receive significant rewards.
The England board has increased the win bonuses on offer to the players to £2million in a bid to keep them happy in the light of the money on offer from the Indian Premier League.
"The game has changed in terms of remuneration and opportunities for players beyond all recognition over the last nine months and I would argue for the better," ECB chairman Giles Clarke said. "It must be right that our players can receive significant rewards if they're outstanding players and if they're successful, but it's a path we need to go down with care."
The amounts being made available by the ECB show a massive increase. As things stand, the board puts £215,000 into the team pot for victory in a five-Test and £180,000 for a three-Test series. The increase will be implemented from the South Africa series which begins next month. "It's a chunky pool now, going up to £2million per year," Clarke said.
"There is an enormous commercial success with Twenty20, which we have encouraged, but we are going to have to ensure that pure Test specialists are looked after."
The new system will take effect from the start of the four-match series against South Africa, which gets underway at Lord's on July 10. Unlike before, the bonuses will take account of the opposition with a greater reward on offer for beating Australia than Bangladesh.
England's players will decide on how the money should be split. "We're very keen on the players developing a structure which they feel is fair," said Clarke. "They are the best people to decide."
This latest development follows Saturday's announcement of the Twenty20 Champions League, with the two domestic finalists from England, Australia, South Africa and India due to take place later this year. The winners of the inaugural Champions League are set to take home US$5million, a huge amount by English county standards.
Up to £2 million in the pot
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