Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers’ Association
Chair James Harris leads discussions with cricket’s governing body
- PCA Summit held at the Tower Hotel in London over two days
- 23 players discussed the future of the men’s and women’s game
- ECB representatives joined on day two to deliberate with the players
- James Harris: “We need to make sure that going into the next negotiations we get what the players want.”
Players from across the country met in London at the PCA Summit this week to discuss key issues affecting the game in England and Wales.
Made up primarily of representatives from the Players’ Committee, 23 players attended the two-day event at the Tower Hotel and were invited to deliberate the current cricketing landscape and what the future holds for professional players.
These discussions were facilitated by player only meetings on day one, which enabled players to come to a collective agreement on certain aspects.
Attendees were supported through pre-prepared reading materials with the aim to aid the gathering of opinions from their dressing rooms, enabling all viewpoints to be accounted for.
On day two of the Summit, four representatives from the ECB (Richard Gould, Vik Banerjee, Alan Fordham and Beth Barrett-Wild) joined the players for an in depth and open conversation led by PCA Chair James Harris on topics high on the agenda for the players.
Players then had specific breakout sessions to discuss topics that solely affected the men’s and women’s games.
Key issues discussed surrounded the upcoming negotiations for the County Partnership Agreement for the men and the Regional Partnership Agreement in the women’s game, alongside important topics such as the ECB’s future plans for The Hundred.
PCA Chief Executive Officer, Rob Lynch, said: “This is a date in the diary that I look forward to. Crucially, the Summit allows us to get that feedback from our members and helps us direct our strategy in the game.
“From England men’s and women’s teams through to the counties and regions, I’ve never seen a time when the players have been so engaged and knowledgeable about the issues that the game faces.
“Passion is the word that comes to mind from the last few days, the players are the game’s biggest asset and it’s great to see them wanting to have their say for the future of cricket.”
PCA Chair and Glamorgan bowler, James Harris, said: “I’m really happy with how the last two days have gone, we had more conversations with the players and we’ve given them as much opportunity as possible to air the opinions of their dressing rooms.
“We need to make sure that going into the next negotiations we get what the players want.
“Without the players we don’t have a game, to tell them our views is really important and hopefully they’ll go away with some good points to utilise.”
Essex bowler and PCA Rep, Sam Cook, said: “The Summit has been really interesting, the landscape of cricket is changing quickly and it’s important that the views of the players are at the forefront of that.
“It’s an exciting time to be a cricketer but it’s important that the PCA and us as reps present the players’ views and get them to the ECB.
“They listened to what we had to say but it’s important that we continue to lobby them and hold them to account of their decision making and ensure that the players’ best interest is high on their agenda.
“Everyone was aligned on the issues that were presented, the current players have a collective voice which makes us much stronger.”
South East Stars all-rounder, Paige Schofield, said: “The future is looking bright for the women’s game, there’s a big interest in The Hundred and how the regional game is going to work.
“Hearing from Beth (Barrett-Wild) was great, it’s exciting because we get more of a say as players and we can mould this platform for the next generation.
“Everyone should be looked after in the squads, including the pay as you play players, so I want to make sure we look after them. I’m going to keep pushing that until we get what we want, but I think it’s been well received by the PCA and the ECB.”
Find out more about the PCA Players’ Committee.
Name of Author: Professional Cricketers Association
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey as the Cricketers’ Association, represents past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales. In the 1970s, the PCA established a standard employment contract and minimum wage for professional cricketers. It also helped create a pension scheme in 1995 and launched the magazine All Out Cricket and the ACE UK Educational Programme in 2002.
