Tim Paine and Marnus Labuschagne not among highest ranked players for Australia

Tim Paine and Marnus Labuschagne do not feature in the rankings of the 2021-22 player contract list. In fact, both the players do not feature among the six highest-paid athletes in the country. This analysis comes as a shock as both the players were instrumental in leading Australia’s revival in the Test setup.

If Time Paine Paine was handed over the Test reins after the infamous Sandpaper Gate saga, then Labuschagne was the find of the summer for the team by scoring over 1000 runs in the calendar year in the 2019-20 season. Both the players helped Australia drew the Ashes series in 2019 and then, later on, thumped New Zealand and Pakistan in the team’s home series.

Paine is still the incumbent skipper and is understood to be the lowest-ranked Australian captain since the pay scale came into prominence in the year 1988. Generally, Australia tends to give the captaincy to the batting superstars in the team like the likes of Mark Taylor, Allen Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Smith. But with Sandpaper Saga, Australia made Paine the skipper of the team.

All the other previous captains usually top the players’ rankings, but Paine never held the position. With an Ashes series coming up in 2021-22, Paine can hope to change things a bit.

Pat Cummins tops the list as the highest-paid player

Australia’s premier bowler Pat Cummins tops the list for the second time in the row and he is the highest-ranked player. Steve Smith slots in the second position, with David Warner, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood taking third, fourth, and fifth spots respectively. The verdict of players’ rankings were informed by Ben Oliver and head selector Trevor Hohns.

Cricket Australia (CA) explained the procedure of calculating rankings based on selective and objective measures for the 12 months period. Then the results are handed out to the players, who then have no right to negotiate. The top-ranked player is valued at $2 million or more in recent times. Add to that he gets selection fees, bonuses too along the way.

The Australian team will take on West Indies in the limited-overs series starting on July 10.