Reward for elimination

Strange things can happen only in Pakistan cricket, I thought.. Australia are doing their best to match it and even overtake PAK in it..

Aussie cricketers have been awarded a pay hike after ending a "successful" T20 world cup campaign where they was bundled out after back-to-back losses to the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Australia's top cricketers were awarded a 13.1 percent increase in their retainers’ unveiled by Cricket Australia on Wednesday. Under the new deal, skipper Ricky Ponting and five other players will get a fixed contract, guaranteeing their tiered retainers plus match payments for every Australia match.

So even if they're injured or fail to win selection for a Test match, limited-overs international or Twenty20 international, the top six centrally contracted players will get the match payment.

Australian Cricketers' Association chief Paul Marsh said the top players would earn in excess of A$1.5 million ($1.21 million) a year.

At the other end of the scale for the 25 centrally contracted players, the minimum base retainer will increase from A$180,000 this season to A$210,000 in 2010-11 with two 13.1 percent increases figured into the agreement over two years.

Match payments will increase marginally from A$13,000 ($10,450) to A$13,500 ($10,850) per test over two years. Over the same time, match fees for an ODI will increase from A$5,200 ($4,200) to A$5,400 ($4,340) and for a T20 from A$3,900 ($3,140) to A$4,050 ($3,255).

The number of player appearances for internationals is expected to be around 15-30 in 2009-10 and 18-30 in 2010-11.

Retainers and match payments will also increase for players with provincial contracts. Australia's six state associations are allowed to contract between 16-20 players, in addition to 3-8 players on rookie contracts.

The "Players Payment Pool will increase from 25 percent to 26 percent of Cricket Australia's revenue, projected to be worth A$96.2 million ($77.3 million) over two years of this agreement. The PPP for 2008-09 season is A$39.9 million ($32 million).