England Players Pay Row

England players wanting more pay? Nothing new.

This is former Warwickshire and England wicket-keeper Dick Lilley's account of some discord amongst England's players of 1896. They were not happy with the amount they were paid to represent their country - a grievance that they laid before the MCC and Surrey CCC (in those day the players were paid part by the MCC and part by the club hosting the Test) on the eve of a crucial Ashes match at The Oval!

"On the eve of the last match, a demand was made by a certain number of players for an increase of pay: the demand being for £20 instead of £10 as was usual. The Surrey club naturally resented such a proceeding, and declined to entertain it.

"While I was quite in sympathy with my brother professionals with the end they had in view - if a man is good enough to play in a Test match, £20 is not too much to requite him for the tremendous strain that he undergoes and the care he must exercise to keep himself in perfect form - I strongly disapproved of the methods they employed to attain it. The moment, I consider, was most inopportune: it looked too much as if they wanted to take advantage of the imminence of the match."