It's hard to tell players to turn down money: Smith

DURBAN: South African captain Graeme Smith has expressed his concerns about the flight of young players to county cricket in England but said he understood why some veterans chose to join the Indian Cricket League.
    
"Financially I know these guys are getting really good offers, so if they're looking to play cricket for another few years, it's hard to tell them to turn down the money," Smith said before the team left for a five-week tour of Pakistan.
    
"But it's the guys with good futures who are almost ready to go now that are sitting on these big contracts. It's how the administrators handle them that is important, and it is a worry for me going forward," he warned.
    
Smith said the country would lose some of the players if the situation was not managed properly.
    

"There are a lot of guys in South Africa sitting on offers. If we don't get our ducks in a row in terms of administration as a team - if things aren't run properly, if the communication is not good, then we are going to lose players," he was quoted as saying by 'The Mercury'.
    
The captain was referring to players such as Jacques Rudolph, Vaghn van Jaarsveld and Ryan Mclaren who are some of the players who have chosen to ply their trade in the English county circuit.
    
"There are young players who may have a chance to stake a claim for a berth as an all-rounder, for instance, who are sitting contracts. We don't want to have holes in our system because we are not running our system properly."
    
"It's a challenge that the administration have. They've got to really look at themselves and ask how things can be improved to make sure guys are staying here, and that South African cricket is moving from strength to strength," said Smith.