‘Players are paraded like cattle’: NZ cricketers association hits out at ‘cruel’ IPL auction

New Zealand Cricket Players Association, on Tuesday, slammed the Indian Premier League players’ auction which concluded on Sunday, stating that the “archaic” process was “deeply humiliating” for the players involved. The IPL also hinted at moving to a draft system in the future.

“I think the whole system is archaic and deeply humiliating for the players, who are paraded like cattle for all the world to see,” Heath Mills, chief executive of the NZCPA, told the New Zealand Herald.

The former chief executive of Wellington Cricket, Peter Clinton, had also raised the issue on Tuesday, tweeting, “The IPL Auction is such an undignified, cruel and unnecessary employment practice. Ridiculous that it exists today, belongs in the medieval ages.”

Mills, though, also reserved some words of praise for the Indian franchise-based league, saying, “There’s a lot of good things about the IPL and it’s been great for cricket but I’d like to see it mirror the rest of professional sport in the way they engage athletes.”

He added, “Some players do exceptionally well out of if but the vast majority would like to see the system changed. They would like to negotiate with coaches and owners behind closed doors.”

Hemang Amin, the IPL’s chief operating officer, hinted at the league adopting a draft system, which is the procedure in many other leagues around the world.

“Going forward, the thinking is that we will reduce, maybe not have mega auctions, but consider having a draft system for new players to come in, which acts as feeder system to teams,” Amin was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“Hence, IPL Governing Council is thinking on the lines of how to cut down on the big auction and have the continuity with teams. It’s almost got to the point where there’s more interest in the auction than the games and I think they’ll keep doing it even though the general player view it is that there’s better ways to do it.”