Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
Both England male and female cricketers have voluntarily taken pay cuts and donated 500,000 pounds as their contribution to the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The gesture from the cricketers come after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had proposed a reduction in players’ salaries to help lower central costs, and protect jobs in the long-term, as the United Kingdom remains under lockdown to curb the rise of novel coronavirus case.
The donation of 500,000 pounds amounts to a 20% cut in the salary of men’s cricketers, while the women have volunteered for a cut in their remuneration for the months of April, May and June.
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“Following a meeting of all of the England men’s centrally contracted cricketers, the players have agreed to make an initial donation of £0.5m to the ECB and to selected good causes,” read a statement from the players.
“The precise details of the charitable donation will be decided over the next week by the players. This contribution is the equivalent of all of the England centrally contracted players taking a 20% reduction in their monthly retainers for the next three months,” the statement added.
The players said they will continue to discuss with the ECB the challenging situation faced by the game and society as a whole and will consider how best to support the ECB and both the cricketing and wider community going forward.
Other than the cut in the salary, some of the England cricketers have made a personal contribution to strengthen the country’s cause against the deadly virus. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler has decided to auction his 2019 World Cup final jersey, whereas women’s team captain Heather Knight joined the National Health Service as a volunteer.
Meanwhile, the ECB on Tuesday had announced a 61 million pounds package to overcome the financial stress in the country’s cricket due to the novel coronavirus situation which has already affected over 38,000 people and killed more than 3,600.
(With PTI inputs)
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