An "anomaly in the ranking system" has seen Australian cricketer Phil Hughes, who has not played a Test since Lord’s, "rewarded with a central contract" while Alex Doolan, who played at first drop in South Africa, "missed out," according to Peter Lalor of THE AUSTRALIAN. There "were few surprises" among the list of 18 players who will get to share the biggest pay day of any Australian cricketers as the player payment pool reaches almost A$15M ($13.9M) after a new broadcast deal. The players will also receive about 10% more for int'l and state matches on top of the bigger total player payment pool. There were 20 players contracted last year, but eight players "received upgraded contracts." The contracted players "get a share of the payment pool according to their rankings." The minimum wage is A$250,000, but players "stand to earn more" through access to a A$3M marketing pool, up to A$5M in performance bonuses and match payments of A$13,100 per Test, A$5,243 per ODI and A$3,932 for a few hours at a T20 int'l. Chair of selectors John Inverarity said that Hughes’s appearance on the contract list when Doolan missed out "should not be interpreted as the latter falling from favour" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 4/1).
