|| CF Correspondent ||

England's centrally contracted men's cricketers have agreed to take a 15 percent pay cut as part of cost-cutting measures due to the corona virus pandemic, said England and Wales Cricket Board officials on Friday.

Director of men's cricket Ashley Giles thanked the players and the Team England Player Partnership (TEPP) for making the consideration.

"The relationship with our men's players and their representatives (TEPP) is strong, and we need to recognise that our players, led by captains Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, have conducted themselves with great maturity and responsibility throughout this challenging time.  We now want to build on this agreement and work together on a number of areas relating to player welfare, particularly mental health, which remains a high priority for all of us, as we continue to navigate a path through this pandemic,’’ said Giles.

ECB announced that the English game has already lost more than £100 million ($130 million) -- a figure that could rise to £200 million next year while last month the governing body announced it was to cut 62 jobs due to the financial crisis.

The annual contracts, which started on October 1, were understood to have been worth £650,000 for Test stars and £275,000 for white-ball performers in 2019/20.