Cricket stars could need permission to play for Australia under new Indian Premier League deals

Top Aussie cricketers including Pat Cummins and Steve Smith could have to ask for PERMISSION to play for their country as they're targeted for megabucks Indian Premier League deals

Several of Australia's top cricketers, including Test captain Pat Cummins and Steve Smith, may soon have to seek permission from their Indian Premier League (IPL) teams before they can play for their country.

Proposed sweeping changes to the structure of the IPL and how players are contracted would be the most profound change to the sport since the launch of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.

IPL conglomerates are looking to sign cricketers to multi-tournament deals worth up to $7.5million, disrupting the global cricket economy. 

Neil Maxwell, one of Australia's most influential player agents, said that the next phase of the IPL revolution would have players asking for non-objection certificates from their clubs.

'It's imminent and it's happening,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'The best Australian players who consistently rank as the best in the world for a number of years will earn about $2.3million from Australian cricket, playing 12 months of the year to achieve that. The maths don't work.' 

Steve Smith is a rock in the Australian top order but is also highly sought after in the Indian Premier League as a player and now as a commentator

Australian skipper Pat Cummins might have to ask permission from his IPL franchise to lead his country in future

After World Cups in India and the USA this year and next, 2025 looms as the year when Australian players will be confronted by deals to represent Indian brands in multiple leagues - which would be at odds with the traditional Cricket Australia contract system. 

Offers are already on the table for some Australian white-ball players. 

Typically, these involve three-tournament deals worth at least $750,000 for the UAE or South Africa leagues, plus the Caribbean Premier League and the fledgling Major League Cricket tournament in the United States. 

Far bigger bundles – as much as $7.5million – would be on the table for players already tied to IPL franchises.

The franchise model is also set to rock the Sheffield Shield, with promising young players offered deals by Indian brands that the Australian state system can't match. 

The future of Test cricket has come under threat from the IPL's plans for expansion and global franchises

Young players like Tim David could make vastly more money under the new IPL franchise deals than they could toiling away in state cricket in Australia

The IPL clubs purchase their players via public auction and cannot recruit them directly. 

However, franchises are indicating to players that if they sign for other teams around the world owned by the same interests, they will prioritise those players at the IPL auction.

Former Australian player Shane Watson, who joined the inaugural IPL in 2008, is still involved alongside Ricky Ponting at the Delhi Capitals and is also president of the Australian Cricketers' Association, the union representing local players. 

He can see the crossover point approaching fast.

'It's really sped up around the big IPL owners just buying franchises in different leagues and then looking to have a pool of players that they can draw on to fill their teams, and look to have an overarching contract,' Watson said.

'Of course the ultimate is Test cricket and international cricket, but sadly the way you see how Test cricket is right now, the priority for Test cricket only really looks like being in three countries – India, Australia and England.

'But you can see for other countries, it is not a priority for their young and incredibly talented cricketers coming through. The priority is to develop their short-format game to play around the world for franchises.' 

Former Australian cricket player Shane Watson works in the IPL and said the crossover point between global limited overs cricket and Test cricket is rapidly approaching

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley believes having more Aussies in the IPL reflects well on the development pathways in Australia

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley is not threatened by the new model, saying Cricket Australia will continue to make concessions to allow as many players as possible to compete in the IPL.

'There's a pretty well-established system, and clearly the window in the calendar allows us to say with a great deal of confidence that we want our players to play in the IPL,' Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said.

'Really for us, a measure of how well our high-performance systems is going, is how many Australians are playing in the IPL and now the WPL [the new Women's Premier League].'