16 May 2024
DUBLIN – Cricket Ireland and the Irish Cricketers Association (ICA) have reached an agreement on the terms of player contracts, paving the way for men’s and women’s contracts to be issued for 2024-25.
Cricket Ireland and the ICA will now finalise the terms of an inaugural Memorandum of Understanding, which both parties believe is progressing very well. This agreement will secure the overall relationship between Cricket Ireland and contracted players and will reflect the best-practice relationships that exist in other Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA)-aligned countries around the world.
Contracts will be issued immediately and will apply until the end of February 2025.
Further details about the MoU and individual player contracts will be published in due course.
Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland, said:
“We are delighted to have reached agreement around player contract terms for this year. They are complex discussions which go beyond a mere ‘how much’ determination, into revenue share models, the balance between salary and match fees, the acceleration of women’s player remuneration, bonus payments and year-on-year costs, tax efficiency etc.
“From the inception of player payments, the Cricket Ireland Board has always prioritised our senior men’s and women’s players to reward them for their huge part in driving forward the sport in Ireland. They were the first group rewarded when we became full members, and players have received the biggest share of the new money in Irish cricket this year. That is as it should be.
“With the growth of franchise cricket, we know players have more choice than ever before, and I believe we have done our best to reward players for their hard work and success without forgetting our duty to fund the rest of the sport, particularly at grassroots, club and provincial level, to ensure we can produce future internationals as well. There is no getting round the fact that our late budget confirmation has meant these negotiations have stretched into the season. This is far from ideal, but an exceptional circumstance that won’t happen again now we are clear on our minimum ICC funding pot for at least the next four years, which is such a critical factor in our revenue share model.
“I want to sincerely thank Cecelia and everyone at ICA for helping us navigate these complex discussions – there has been an excellent level of cooperation, formal and informal, which means we remained focus on reaching an agreed position, and that same approach will surely help us reach agreement in the coming months on our first-ever MOU with ICA.”
Cecelia Joyce, President of the ICA, said:
The ICA was founded in 2017 with the core aims of advocating and providing a voice for players and contributing to the growth of the game in Ireland.
Our members have been unified throughout this whole process and the outcome is a significant one for all professional players in Ireland, and the game. It ensures greater transparency and clarity with respect to the players’ share of revenue and on contracting structures for the next period.
The most successful models in Cricket and other sports globally are built on partnership and acknowledge players as key stakeholders. This outcome is a significant step towards that model and we are looking forward to finalising the first comprehensive MOU between CI and ICA to align with best practice as a priority.
In my role as ICA President, I would personally like to thank the ICA team and all ICA members for their faith, their absolute commitment and their hard work during this journey. I also want to thank Warren and his colleagues at CI for the collaborative way we have managed to finalise these discussions. This is a key moment for all professional cricketers and indeed Cricket in Ireland.”
Irish Cricketers Association 