Bevan: 'Financial deterrents are the answer'

Richard Bevan: financial deterrents are the only solution © Getty Images

Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, believes that money is the only deterrent strong enough to stem the influx of Kolpak players in county cricket, and has called on the England & Wales Cricket Board to increase the current performance-fee payment from £20,000 per player, as it currently stands, to nearer £50,000.

This week the ECB promised to clamp down on the increasing number of Kolpak registrations that had been made without the necessary work permits, but Bevan questioned the value of such regulations if they are only going to be flaunted. "The only real factor in this day and age is money," he told Cricinfo. "Cash is king."

Following a European Union ruling in 2003, it became illegal for a member of one EU country to prevent a person from a state with an EU trading relationship from working in that country. Most counties have taken advantage of the ruling to bolster their squads with players from the West Indies, Zimbabwe and, especially, South Africa - a situation that critics say allows them to fill sides with what amount to mercenaries who take the cash and run.

Bevan stressed that the PCA was not anti-Kolpak or overseas players in general, but felt that a better balance had to be sought. "The PCA has always believed that we want to see a minimum of eight players walking out onto a pitch who are qualified to play for England in any given match in domestic cricket."

It's an issue that is affecting sports in general - as many as 70% of the footballers in the English Premiership, for example, are overseas imports. Bevan, however, argues that cricket needs to be treated as a special case because nine-tenths of the income that the counties survive on derives from the success of the England cricket team.

"The counties have a bigger responsibility for the overall health of the game that clubs in other sports," he said. "The difficulty for the clubs is that they struggle to look anything other than the short term on certain occasions. Sometimes we have sympathy for their situation - they have trophies to win and targets to hit. So the responsibility really comes down on two areas - the government and the ECB."

Despite positive vibes coming from the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, the game cannot rely on government action to stem the flow of overseas imports. And so, in Bevan's opinion, the responsibility lies with the clubs to buy into the long-term policies of the ECB. "And the ECB needs to have enough teeth to ensure that people follow the rules," he said. "If regulations are going to be broken, you need to make sure that the performance-fee payments are significantly higher so that the deterrent is there.

"If that figure is nearer £50,000, as we want it, the clubs will not be able to afford so many imports, and instead they will go to their academies and invest in grassroots. And then, if they do bring in an overseas or Kolpak player, he would have to be a very good player to justify losing £50,000. You'd expect him therefore to bring on the youth and bring on the club's development, and it would create a much better balance."

Tim Boon, Leicestershire's coach, already has four Kolpak players on his county's books, and according to The Daily Telegraph has said that he would sign more if they became available. "Tim will fully recognise that the £1.4 million that Leicestershire receive annually to pay their wages and ensure their survival comes from the success of the England team," countered Bevan. "Without that money the club would simply disappear."

"All the stakeholders in cricket have got to work in one direction," he added. "The PCA, the ECB and the counties have to realise the £70-odd million that comes in each year is focussed because of what the England cricket team does. We need to make sure that English cricket is successful, because the more successful it is, the more the money comes in, and the more investment is put into in grassroots and club cricket."