What is it like to be a second XI cricketer? — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Sheridon Gumbs signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Leicestershire after an 18-month trial on the second XI playing for the UK daily minimum wage (just over £100) plus expenses, with no contract during that period
- Leicestershire gave Gumbs his first-class debut in June against Essex — scoring 49 in his second innings — and he played a part in the Foxes' first County Championship top-flight win in 8,318 days against Yorkshire
- Gumbs' older brother Shelvin, himself a former Hampshire and Middlesex second XI triallist, connected him with Leicestershire second XI coach Dips Patel, a former Loughborough Town teammate of Shelvin's
- The Professional Cricketers' Association established post-2021 guidelines requiring counties to pay second XI trialists, though the first five days of any trial remain unpaid
- Second XI coach Dips Patel predicts a '15-year career' for Gumbs, with Leicestershire director of cricket Claude Henderson and head coach Alfonso Thomas backing a deal that runs until the winter of 2029
- The Hundred's top earner Harry Brook pockets £465,000 for a month's work, while second XI trialists like Gumbs earned roughly £100 a day during their trial periods — a stark pay gulf the article sets up at the top
Why it matters: The piece exposes the precarious economics of cricket's second tier, where trialists earn roughly £100 a day while The Hundred's marquee stars collect £465,000 a month. The PCA's post-2021 pay guidelines provide some protection, but Gumbs' 18-month gamble shows how thin the safety net remains for talent chasing a first-class career.
Ask SkimNews
