Australian Test captain Pat Cummins said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has changed cricket’s transformation towards the football model, where cricketers take full-time contracts with franchises as well and need their permission to play for their countries as well. The fast bowler also stated that soon it might be a “challenge” to attract good players to play for Australia as much as they do now as well.

“It’s been coming for a while, but I think it is here now,” Cummins told Sydney Morning Herald. “International cricket doesn’t have a monopoly on players’ time, like it did in the past. The IPL changed that a decade ago, but there’s just going to be more and more content that creeps in, so I think we’ve got to be proactive about that. We have to keep making playing for Australia as special as we can, keeping a high performance to get every single player wanting to play for Australia as much as we can. That’s going to be the challenge. I think it’s upon us now, and we’ve got to start thinking about that quite deeply. I think fast-forward a few years’ time, a 12-month international calendar might look a little bit different.”

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Many international players, especially New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult, have recently opted out of the board’s central contracts to play as freelancers in T20 leagues across the globe. Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) also reportedly offered England pace bowler Jofra Archer a full-time contract. In that, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would need Mumbai Indians’ approval to use Archer’s services in international matches as well. However, Pat Cummins will lead Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, starting at the Oval on Wednesday, June 7 as well.

“When you’re talking about some of the opportunities that may be provided through the franchises, I don’t think you can blame players that might take that option. I see the day where that (a franchise release) happens. I think it’s reality. You’ve seen it in other sports. We still want the best players winning World Cups for us, winning big series. But obviously, there are more competing interests than there were in the past. That’s why things are starting to quicken up, and it’s moving towards a more world football model, where you play for your club, employed by your club, and you get released to play for your country,” Pat Cummins concluded.