Win Projections to be updated soon
Melbourne, 30 October 2025:
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg warned Thursday that underpaying top men’s players could endanger the future of the national game, as the governing body grapples with financial cuts and an AUD$11.3 million deficit.
Speaking after CA’s annual general meeting in Melbourne, Greenberg said the organization must balance tough financial decisions with the need to keep Australia’s best cricketers from being lured full-time by franchise leagues.
“It’s a big part of our decisions,” Greenberg told reporters. “Every sports league in the world has one thing in common — the best players play in them. The moment we take for granted that our Australian players will stay in our leagues or play for their teams is at our peril.”
Greenberg and CA chair Mike Baird said the deficit had been long anticipated despite last summer’s Border-Gavaskar series. They expect the 2025–26 season — featuring India’s white-ball tour and a home Ashes series — to deliver one of the most profitable years in CA’s history.
Still, Thursday’s meeting exposed tensions among stakeholders, notably Cricket Victoria chair Ross Hepburn, over recent cost-cutting measures. CA has made internal redundancies, withdrawn funding for indoor cricket national teams and domestic championships, and begun cost-saving reviews in high-performance programs.
The prospect of private investment in the Big Bash League was also discussed, with Greenberg acknowledging it could help sustain the competition.
Pushing more money toward elite player salaries while cutting grassroots funding has sparked criticism, but Greenberg said resources are finite.
“Of course, we’d love to fund everyone and everything,” he said. “But we have to make sure we put our money in the right places at the right times. We can’t give out what we don’t have.”
Greenberg, previously chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, helped broker the 2023 pay deal that runs through 2028. But with franchise cricket expanding rapidly, some insiders believe the agreement is already outdated.
Australia has so far avoided losing players to franchise cricket full-time, but Greenberg warned that could change.
“It’s the challenge that sits right in front of us,” he said. “We’ve got to keep making the Australian team environment one they want to be part of and that includes paying them appropriately. Sitting back and hoping that happens will fail spectacularly.”
Baird sought to ease short-term financial concerns, saying next year’s schedule should produce record profits through sell-out crowds, sponsorships, and broadcast revenue.
“Next year is going to be a record year in cricket,” Baird said. “You’ll see the most attendance, the most viewership, the most sponsorship, the biggest year cricket has ever seen.”
