Oz cricketers to receive almost 1 mln-dollar 'bonus' following 'golden summer'

The Australian cricketers are reportedly in line for a bonus of nearly one billion dollars after their thrashing of England in all formats of the game this winter, starting with the Ashes Test series.

Michael Clarke's men are in line for a lucrative payday after they followed up a 5-0 Ashes whitewash with a 4-1 series victory in the one-day internationals and a 3-0 clean sweep of the Twenty20 series.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, although the windfall will be is yet to be finalised by Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association, however, the figure will be between 900,000 dollars and one million dollars, adding that they have been also rewarded for removing England from the top four in the Test and ODI formats.

The report mentioned that Australian cricketers are also well placed to collect a further 970,000 dollars in cash incentives after the Test series against South Africa and the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, which is made up of bonuses of 350,000 dollars if Australia can displace India from second in the Test rankings.

The amount also comprises of 280,000 dollars if Australia can retain the No.1 ODI ranking until the cut-off date of March 31, and a further 60,000 dollars if they can win their first World Twenty20 title.

The report also said that Australia's bonus would be 140,000 dollars for finishing second if India regain top spot in the ODIs, adding that there is also the chance for another 280,000-dollar bonus if Australia is deemed to have been ranked the top ODI side for the 12-month period from April 1, 2013, until the end of March.

However, the 700,000-dollar cheque for the No.1 Test ranking, however, will remain out of reach for this year at least, even if Australia were to clean sweep South Africa.

The bonuses are part of a new performance-based player-payment scheme agreed to by the ACA and CA in 2012 following a recommendation in the Argus review that suggested financial incentives for success, the report added.