Mumbai Cricket Association proposes contracts for the senior teams

Impressed by the performances from the Ranji team in the recent few months, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has put forward a proposal for the retainer contracts to the players.

In 2019, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly hinted that the contract system will soon be in place to secure a structured payment system for the thousands of domestic cricketers. Ganguly wanted to improve the health of domestic cricket in the country. 

President Vijay Patil's proposal is said to have been given a green signal by MCA's apex council meeting earlier this week. The final decision will be taken in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to take place in August. 

Patil has reckoned that security must be provided to the domestic players to retain their services. He added that gradation contracts will also be provided to the young talents. 

"Mumbai has performed extremely well this year and there was always this question of providing security to our domestic players and making sure that we retain the talent pool which we have in Mumbai cricket," Patil told ESPNcricinfo. 

"I think the gradation contracts will give us an opportunity to invest in our young talent. I am very happy that the apex council has unanimously approved this."

The proposal consists of the players from the senior men's and women's teams. The ones already possessing a central contract from BCCI are likely to be exempted from the list. 

The contracts have also been in much news due to the entire 2020/21 Ranji Trophy season being shelved amid COVID pandemic, and the players have demanded annual contracts to eliminate these unforeseen things. 

MCA's Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC), which consists of the former players like Jatin Paranjape, Nilesh Kulkarni, and Vinod Kambli, are said to be the key forces to lay this system ahead of the 2022/23 season. 

"Nothing is like a perfect system, but we've got to make a start. Once that start is made, I think everything else will fall into place. This is the association's commitment to the players," Patil added. 

"Given the performance of our various squads across different age groups, everyone was of the same opinion that this needed to be done. I am happy that this proposal has been approved and I am looking forward to it."

MCA had also awarded a 1 Crore Prize money to the Mumbai Ranji team, for finishing as the runner-up in the 2021/22 season.