Cricket fights to keep top talent

For as long as cricket has been played in Australia, the game has been in a battle with other sports to attract and retain talented players.

While the likes of Sir Donald Bradman, Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall were able to play multiple sports at the highest level during the amateur era, the advent of professionalism has forced several athletes to make the life-changing decision between cricket and another sport.

It's cross-sport battle for talent that Cricket Australia's General Manager of Team Performance Pat Howard is confident of winning.

As a former Australian representative in rugby union, Howard is now at the frontline in the quest to entice talented athletes to opt for a career in cricket.

"I think we have a lot to offer, but it is competitive," Howard told cricket.com.au.

"Australia has 20 million people and we've got more professional leagues than pretty much every other country in the world.

"So we have to make sure that kids who want to be cricketers, we have to make sure we've got a really strong offering.

"And we're not going to exclude them from playing other sports. We think that's a really important part of our national development and our national duty to have great sports right across the country.

"But the ones we want to play cricket, we want to make sure we have a really good offering for them."

The talent battle has resulted in mixed success for cricket in the past.

George Bailey and Mitchell Johnson were both promising junior tennis players before choosing to focus on cricket, while Steve and Mark Waugh excelled in cricket, soccer and tennis in their junior days.

Many experts believe Mitchell Marsh would have been selected in the AFL draft had he not opted for cricket, while Victoria's Alex Keath was signed by Gold Coast Suns before he joined the Bushrangers.

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Former Test wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, the son of former Hawthorn VFL player Scott and cousin of current Melbourne AFL player Jeremy Howe, represented Tasmania in both cricket and football in his teenage years.

And just this month, Victoria rookie Matthew Short made his domestic debut having given up a promising Australian Football career.

But while cricket has won the battle for several talented players, there are also multiple examples of cricketers turning their back on the game to pursue other sports, mainly Australian Football.

Brett Deledio was almost offered a two-year contract to play cricket for Victoria before he decided to embark on an Australian Football career with Richmond in the AFL.

George Horlin-Smith, who plays for Geelong in the AFL, captained Australia's under-16 cricket team before opting for a career in Aussie Rules.

Jonathan Brown, Luke Hodge and Marc Murphy, who have all captained their club at AFL level, were also talented junior cricketers, as was Wallabies rugby player Berrick Barnes.

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One cricketer who has managed to juggle two sports in the modern era is Southern Stars allrounder Ellyse Perry, who is a dual international in cricket and football.

Despite some players choosing other sports in the past, Howard says there are several factors in Cricket Australia's favour that will help them convince youngsters that cricket is the game for them.

The top-end talent in Australian cricket, a select group of around 20 players who are contracted by Cricket Australia each year, earn a minimum annual salary of $250,000, while the leading players earn in the range of $2 million a year.

International players also receive match payments of $13,100 per Test, $5243 per one-day international and $3932 for a T20 international, as well as performance bonuses.

In comparison, the average wage of an AFL player in 2013 was $265,179, while only five players earned more than $1 million.

Those not contracted by Cricket Australia sign deals with their states, which range between $60,500 and $176,000 a year.

Add in the earning potential in various Twenty20 leagues around the world, and the fact that a cricketer's career can last up to a decade longer than a footballer's, and Howard believes cricket is an attractive prospect for talented young athletes.

"I think this is where there's a massive opportunity for cricket and we've been doing a lot of work in this space," Howard said.

"Right now a lot of the other sports have a lot of opportunities at some of these levels.

"But the thing with cricket is we are truly international and more so than pretty much every other sport that I can think of.

"We also have a national team; that competes significantly better than a lot of other sports.

"So you can go and play for the Australian under-19s, the under-16s.

"I think we've got a real competitive advantage and a great offering for kids.

"Remuneration for our players is fantastic.

"I think where we've come in leaps and bounds with the female game is huge as well (and) obviously longevity in the game ... you can play cricket for a long time and that's just a wonderful thing.

"They can play until they’re 40, or 43 in Brad Hogg’s case, so there's a massive longevity in the game."

A key pillar in Cricket Australia's plan to win the talent battle is the Bupa NCC, the National Cricket Centre based in Brisbane.

The state-of-the-art facility is used year-round by teams and players at all levels of the game, from the senior men's squad to female cricketers aged 15 and under.

"I think it's massive," Howard said of the Bupa NCC.

"What we've seen over the past winter has been absolutely huge.

"We saw the impact it had with the Australia under-16 team this year; they were amazed.

"We’re very much inspiring people to play cricket long-term, go back to their states and practice the skills and levels they’ve been asked to perform at.

"So it's got to work in conjunction with how they play their cricket (and) where they play their cricket. But as a place to aspire to we think it’s very important."