Green rides to IPL riches, another huge pay day likely

Cameron Green, freshly minted as the highest-priced overseas player in Indian Premier League history, could soon land another multimillion-dollar pay day from Cricket Australia.

The Australian allrounder has been bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for 252 million rupees ($4.17 million) at the IPL auction.

The Australian's price eclipsed compatriot Mitchell Starc's $4 million figure in 2024 when also bought by the Knight Riders.

Green is the ?third-most expensive ?IPL player overall, after Indian internationals Rishabh Pant ($4.46 million) and Shreyas Iyer ($4.42 million).

But the West Australian's deal with the Knight Riders is capped at just below $3 million, under a new IPL rule that decrees the rest of the money over that figure goes to India's cricket board to support player welfare.

At Tuesday's player auction for the 2026 season, the allrounder was the subject of intense bidding between Kolkata and Chennai Super Kings.

And the 26-year-old could soon become even richer, with Cricket Australia (CA) considering longer-term contracts.

Green is among 23 Australians on an annual contract with CA.

"We have got an open mind to having a longer-term commitment to those players," CA chief executive Todd Greenberg told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday.

"Particularly in the next couple of years when there's an enormous workload of Test cricket and they're going to have to make some distinct choices about their availability.

"The short answer is yes, we are open to longer-term deals for the right players at the right parts of their career.

"Over time, players have always had an annual one-year contract.

"But over the last couple of years we've been starting to open up our minds to a longer-term (deal), and that's exactly what we're thinking now."

The specifics of CA earnings are not released publicly, though Test captain Pat Cummins is understood to be on about $3 million.

Green and others who feature in Test and white-ball cricket such as Travis Head are believed to be on CA deals worth well in excess of $1 million.

"There's significant spoils to be made elsewhere," Greenberg said.

"And the flexibility we try to provide our players so they can earn additional income all over the world I think is important to acknowledge.

"We've got to make sure that the way and the shape of where the player payments go are to the right areas, and that's a balance."

Green's IPL deal was one of the first completed on auction night, but Steve Smith headed a list of unsold Australians including Sean Abbott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Riley Meredith, Jyhe Richardson, Ben McDermott, Beau Webster and Jason Behrendorff.

Green previously played for Mumbai Indians and ?Royal ?Challengers Bengaluru, but ?missed the 2025 season ?after back surgery.

Starc, now with Delhi Capitals, was not in this year's auction. He is one of 10 Australians already retained, along with Test teammates Cummins and Head, both at Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Josh Hazlewood, currently injured, was unsurprisingly kept on by defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Four other Australians were recruited at auction, with Ricky Ponting's Punjab Kings adding Ben Dwarshuis ($725,000) and Cooper Connolly ($330,000) to their roster.

Batter Matt Short ($250,000) joined Chennai, while Hyderabad made Jack Edwards ($500,000) the only uncapped overseas hire.