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Paupers at cricket's shining palace NORMAN DA COSTA SPORTS REPORTER THE TORONTO STAR Joe Harris is representing Canada at the world's second-biggest international sports championship, where he will battle players earning up to $30 million a year. His biggest worry? His mortgage. The economic tables have been turned at cricket's World Cup in South Africa, where normally wealthy Canada is a pauper and Third World Sri Lanka is a comparative fat cat. Harris and his 14 teammates on the national cricket team are frustrated at their "unfair" compensation for representing Canada for almost six weeks on the other side of the world. They've been paid just $2,000 (all figures Canadian) so far for the event and are getting by on a $40 per diem until the World Cup begins Feb. 8. Then, they'll get $75 a day. "I know it is great to be playing in the World Cup," Harris said. "And I only wish we could focus on the game instead of worrying about our mortgages," Harris, who works for the Brita water filter company, said yesterday from Pretoria. Harris, the team's captain, said that one player was unable to take a job because he would be away for six weeks. The players' jobs range from graphic designers and students to chain-store employees. "Some took their vacations, while others had to take unpaid holidays. And the compensation is definitely unfair." Sri Lanka, meanwhile, is giving its players the equivalent of more than $150,000 each — plus bonuses for wins. Players for the majority of test-playing nations, the cream of the cricketing world, receive roughly $100,000 a year — excluding bonuses — from their respective national associations. And India's Sachin Tendulkar, the game's highest-paid player, earns $30 million a year from playing fees and endorsements. The winning team of the tournament will earn roughly $3 million with the runner-up assured of $1.2 million. Cricket's World Cup, held every four years, rates only second in television viewership behind soccer's World Cup. Some 1.3 billion people are expected to watch the 42-day competition, with 800,000 fans attending the matches. As a team, Canada will earn $10,000 for a win in its first-round group match, and is guaranteed $5,000 for a loss. It would still return home with $30,000 in the event it loses all of its six matches, which is very likely. In addition to the $2,000 received so far, the Canadian Cricket Association has also promised to pay the players 50 per cent of all prize money it receives. Canada's cricketers have suffered numerous setbacks since surprisingly qualifying for the World Cup 19 months ago. A trip to Namibia was cancelled for lack of funds. The debt-ridden Canadian Cricket Association informed the 15-member squad that arrived in Pretoria on Sunday the $40 per diem is all it can afford — despite the CCA getting roughly $575,000 from the International Cricket Council for qualifying for the tournament. Canada's players are also getting another $21 a day for laundry expenses — but that's not going far. "It is definitely not cheap out here, but so far we are just making ends meet on $40 a day," Harris said. He said the team is pooling its money to pay for buffets and are going to pizza parlours to stretch their money. The hotel laundry facilities are too expensive, so they're going elsewhere. Anything extra means the players will have to dip into their own pockets with no guarantee that they will receive any monies owed to them on their return as the CCA has been accused of reneging on past promises. The CCA offered the players three contracts, the last one being presented just a week before the team's departure and the players refused to sign it. The players are wary of the CCA because they had to wait 19 months for the $3,000 they were each promised after qualifying for the World Cup with a third-place finish in the ICC Trophy competition in Toronto. They were finally handed $1,000 each and the contract, which was obtained by the Star, stated "each player who played in the 2001 ICC Trophy formally and irrevocably absolves the CCA from any further claims for qualification." Since the CCA was unable to get any sponsors, it had to purchase clothing — blazers, three shirts, three pairs of trousers, caps and warm-up suits at an estimated cost of $7,500. Some of the money the Canadian association received from the ICC was used to pay for travel to Argentina and West Indies for competition and to cover the salary of Australian-born coach Jeff Thomas, who was fired without any explanation in November. Thomas has sued the CCA for wrongful dismissal. The CCA then approached the West Indies Cricket Board which agreed to loan former test player Gus Logie for the duration of the competition. WICB agreed to pay Logie's salary with the CCA responsible for expenses. CCA president Geoff Edwards said he was unable to get any sponsors and that led to his association's financial woes. But Ed Bracht, a former CCA treasurer for 15 years and now a cricket association trustee, said the "CCA never seriously attempted to raise any sponsorship money." "The CCA threw away an excellent opportunity for worldwide exposure to help Canadian cricket. "I had a couple of high-profile sponsors who were willing to help the team, but since the CCA did not have a business plan and could not present audited books, they backed off." Cricket supporter Howard Petrook raised $10,000 in October and the money went directly to the players. The Canadians are primarily all amateurs with the exception of three. John Davison plays professionally for South Australia, Nicholas De Groot makes a living playing in Guyana, while Ian Billcliff is with Auckland in New Zealand. When informed that the Star had a copy of the contract, Harris admitted the players will have to dip into their pockets to represent their country. "This is certainly not an ideal situation. It has been a huge sacrifice, but it is worthwhile as we only get to play in the World Cup once." ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
