Australian captain Pat Cummins has strongly denied claims that senior Australian cricketers may consider skipping the home summer to join lucrative overseas franchise leagues.A group of Australia’s top players, including Cummins, may seek non-objection certificates (NOCs) to feature in South Africa’s SA20 tournament in 2028 if they are not offered salaries close to their market value in the Big Bash League (BBL), according to a report in The Age. It also revealed that Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc had received offers of around $800,000 to participate in The Hundred this year.The original report highlighted the growing financial pressures created by franchise cricket around the world, with tournaments such as the SA20 and The Hundred reportedly offering contracts significantly higher than what Australia’s top players currently earn in the BBL.He further suggested that Cricket Australia was exploring changes to the BBL structure, including the possibility of scrapping the overseas draft system, to direct more money back to Australian players.However, Cummins quickly shut down the claims after the story gained traction online. Responding publicly, the Australian captain wrote on X: “Whatever you wrote about me in it about the SA20 NOC and The Hundred offer is ready.”Cummins previously spoke extensively about the growing financial pull of franchise leagues during an appearance on the Business of Sports podcast. “Obviously a big Ashes series – all the main guys want to play this series,” Cummins said on the Business of Sport podcast. “For example, during this Hundred season we’ve got two Test matches against Bangladesh. Not all of our guys who played in that Test match opted to go into the Hundred auction, but that won’t be the case forever,” added Cummins. “Some of our guys are not asking for half a million pounds for 20 days’ work to go and play in these two Tests against Bangladesh. I think it’s a tension point. At the moment, our guys are so keen to play for Australia that they’re happy to leave, but I don’t think we can accept that it’s going to be like that forever.”
