linkAndrew Flintoff was the first to make the leap and Brendon McCullum came close to following suit. Now Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo have joined cricket’s freelancers by turning down central contracts with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
When Flintoff made that choice last year, he was castigated publicly and the West Indies trio will surely face a similar backlash for their “lack of patriotism” and greed. There will also be plenty of vitriol directed at the Indian Premier League (IPL) in coming the days for turning “gentlemen” cricketers into mercenaries.
Would that discourage others from following Gayle and his ilk? Highly unlikely.
With the IPL auctions coming up soon, accepting WICB contracts would have meant having the leave the Twenty20 tournament at the board’s discretion. Being freelancers makes them hotter property.
They have not turned their backs on West Indies cricket; they have just exercised their options of ensuring a bigger bank balance for post-retirement days.
Exactly....man have to live after cricket. So fatten the account while you can...
Anyone knows if WICB hands out retirement checks to ex-players and what that amount might if so?