A contract crisis is brewing in Australian cricket, with several nationally-contracted stars reportedly unwilling to sign deals tying them to international cricket and some of the Big Bash League’s biggest names exploring their options elsewhere.

In the wake of the proposed privatisation of the Big Bash League being officially put on hold, a News Corp report said as many as five nationally-contracted players were underwhelmed with the remuneration they had been offered by Cricket Australia in negotiations over new deals.

Meanwhile, a group of BBL stars are said to be disheartened with the prospect of inviting private investment into the competition being scuppered in the short term and are eager to explore their options to play in competing leagues.

Superstars Pat Cummins and Travis Head have reportedly been offered deals by CA worth approximately $4 million annually if they commit their long-term future to international cricket, which is said to have captured the attention of other players who hold national contracts.

Some are said to be seeking raises in pay, while others are pursuing greater flexibility in securing no-objection certificates to play in short-form competitions around the world.

The report said the BBL’s biggest names were united in their frustration over “B-grade” international players receiving more money than they did. In 2022, CA bolstered the pay rates of international players in the hope of keeping the competition competitive on the global stage.

Last season, the competition’s platinum salary band for overseas players — which is worth up to $420,000 — included underwhelming Pakistan trio Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan and fringe England seamers Luke Wood, Chris Jordan and Jamie Overton.

Current ICC rules dictate that players must hold an NOC from their home board to be cleared to play in an overseas T20 league, meaning Australian cricketers cannot head for lucrative leagues in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, which overlap with the BBL, without the board’s permission.

In March, Cummins pointed to the upcoming clash between a low-key Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia and England’s The Hundred as a “tension point” for players.

“All our guys who will play in that Test (series) have opted out of going into the Hundred auction, but that’s not going to be the case forever,” Cummins told the Business of Sport podcast.

“Some of our guys are saying ‘no’ to half a million pounds for 20 days’ work to go and play those two Test matches against Bangladesh.”