IPL cash a 'culture shock' for SA players

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

The Indian Premier League (IPL) made Chris Morris cheat on the love of his life. Or, as Morris admitted yesterday, “I’ve upgraded.”

Before he went off to play for the Chennai Super Kings in last year’s IPL, Morris swore allegiance to the car he had driven since high school, a VW Golf 6. “I love it ... I call it the ‘Blue Ninja’,” he said last February.

But US$625 000, or more than R5.5-million at the prevailing exchange rate, which was the price Morris fetched at the IPL auction, can change everything.

“One of my childhood dreams was to own a bakkie, so ...”

The bakkie Morris bought is a VW Amarok, which is currently priced from R319 400 to R458 900. First, however, he had a debt to settle.

“I bought my parents’ house for them,” Morris, the son of former Northern Transvaal left-arm spinner Willie Morris, said. “They have done so much for me, the least I could do was make sure they can live bond free.”

That done, Morris bought a house for himself and his fiancé, Lisa Oosthuizen. They plan to marry in August.

So far, so sensible. But what did the spike in Morris’ bank account do to the way he saw himself and the world?

“It was a culture shock, definitely,” Morris said. “When you first get the SMS to say the money has been deposited, you check your phone every couple of hours to make sure it’s real and you think, ‘Gosh, that’s a lot of numbers’.”

Happily, Morris seems to have spent his earnings responsibly. But not all cricketers would be as level-headed.

The 12 SA players in this year’s IPL will make, collectively, more than R100-million. Of them, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy and Morne Morkel are experienced and established enough to have a firm grip on their financial affairs.

Not so, perhaps, David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Wayne Parnell, Marchant de Lange and Beuran Hendricks. Their IPL salaries range from De Lange’s R540 000 to Miller’s R2.1-million and add up to almost R14-million. Few South Africans of their age - from 21 to 24 - earn that kind of money.

Which is where the SA Cricketers’ Association (SACA) comes in. Their Player Plus programme is designed to keep cricketers’ feet on the ground even as their earnings reach for the stars.

“Career transition and player education is arguably the most important pillar of the Player Plus programme,” SACA’s website reads.

“The emphasis is on assisting a player in planning for life after cricket. Players will have access to individual assessments (managed by a qualified career specialist) to identify what assistance SACA can provide.”

Hopefully, that will stop Miller from splurging on too many tricked out cellphones, De Kock from acquiring a gold-plated Playstation console, Parnell from spending it all on ever more snazzy sneakers, and Hendricks from paying good money for the kind of ridiculous haircut he sported at the World T20. Maybe De Lange will have the sense to fund research into the causes of stress fractures.

Money makes the world go round, but it should not make our heads spin.