Everything you need to know about Kolpak

Did you know that Faf du Plessis was once a Kolpak player? Andy and Grant Flower too held similar status, as did West Indian opener Dwayne Smith. So, what is Kolpak? How can one become a Kolpak cricketer? What is the history behind it?

Who is a Kolpak player?

A player becomes eligible to sign for a county under the Kolpak deal only after he gives up his right to play for his country. According to rules, a Kolpak player must not have represented his country in the past 12 months and during the period of his contract with a county, he will not be eligible to represent his country. The Kolpak players will be eligible to play for England after plying their trade in the country for four years.

Why take the Kolpak route?

There are broadly two categories of Kolpak players. Quite a few aged cricketers, who are out of reckoning when it comes to national selection, turn to playing domestic cricket in England mainly for financial gains and love for the game. The other category is a young cricketer, who decides to head in the direction of an EU nation in hopes of pursing his career. Even players in their prime have taken the Kolpak path, sometimes to re-establish themselves on the cricketing scene, sometimes due to disputes with their boards, while for some, county cricket is a good career option in comparison to national duty.

The Kolpak ruling

On 8th May 2003, European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favour of a Slovak handball player called Maros Kolpak when it passed a judgement stating that citizens of countries which have signed European Union Association Agreements have the same right to work and the freedom of movement within the European Union (EU) as EU citizens. Maros Kolpak, who was born in Czechoslovakia, represented a German second division handball team called TSV Ostringen since 1997. According to The German Handball Association's Rule 15, member clubs were prohibited from including more than two non-EU citizens and Maros was left out by his club in 2000 as they had already included two non-EU citizens.

Slovakia was not a member of EU then (it became an EU member in 2004), but it did have an Association Agreement with EU. Maros first approached a German higher Court, which referred the matter to ECJ to determine if the Association Agreement allowed Slovak workers the same right to work and freedom of movement within EU countries as EU member nations. The ECJ gave its landmark judgement in favour of Maros, which had a big implication on county cricket.

ACP Group of States and Cotonou Agreement

Cricketing nations such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, as well as several Caribbean nations are part of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. This group signed the Cotonou Agreement with 15 member nations of the European Union in June 2000. The agreement was aimed at reduction of poverty in ACP nations and trade co-operation between ACP and EU nations, among other things.

The 2003 Kolpak ruling had a significant impact on county cricket as it allowed cricketers from African and Caribbean nations to be part of the English cricket setup. Prior to the ruling, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had a rule limiting counties to only one non-EU or overseas player per team. ECB had also declared that a player should not have represented his country for 12 months in order to qualify as Kolpak player, but they later withdrew the rule as it was unenforceable.

ECB battles to reduce Kolpak signings

In order to reduce the mass arrival of overseas players into county cricket, ECB also tried reduce the grants to counties that included Kolpak players. The board paid GBP 1,100 less to a county for each game a Kolpak player represented a side instead of a qualified English player. While there were no restrictions from the EU to enforce this rule, it did not reduce the number of overseas players as counties continued to sign cricketers from other countries.

Amendment to Cotonou Agreement

By 2008, there were more than 60 Kolpak players in English cricket, which set alarm bells ringing in ECB. However, an amendment to the Cotonou Agreement in 2008 gave the England board, which was keen to reduce the number of overseas players, some respite. In the amendment, EU stated that the Cotonou Agreement should not be interpreted as as avenue for free movement of labour, but should be treated as an opportunity for free trade of goods and services. United Kingdom's Home Office later enforced further restrictions on Kolpak players by stating that only those individuals who have held a valid work permit for four years have the right to be treated as EU citizens. The amendment also allowed entry limitations to be decided by visa regulations.

The gulf in the payment scale in the South African and the English County setup

Players can make up to three times as much playing for a county than they would in South Africa playing for their franchise. A relatively senior county professional stands to earn a minimum of 80,000 a year (roughly R1.35m) which makes the county game an attractive place to earn a living. For high-profile players such as Kyle Abbott, a county may also take care of accommodation costs.

A South African international in all three formats can earn between R2.5m and R3m a year excluding their salary from the IPL, which would be significantly more than they would earn playing for a county. That is of course dependent on being selected and a county contract compensates by offering more security than a player has when at the whim of national selectors.

The role of Brexit in players' decision

Britain's decision to leave the European Union, known as Brexit, is thought to have prompted more South African players to review their options with regards to county cricket. Players who could previously play in England under Kolpak contracts thanks to the EU Cotonou Agreement may not be able to do so once Britain leaves the EU. As a non-member, those agreements may no longer apply to workers looking for employment in Britain and other agreements, perhaps preventing players from taking up county contracts, may take the place of the Cotonou Agreement.

As a result of the uncertainty as to any post-Brexit arrangement, players such as Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw are signing long-term contracts with counties now in order to take advantage of the rules while they still can. What happens to overseas nationals living and working in the UK when Brexit occurs in two years' time is still unclear - a similar arrangement to now may remain in place or there may be a new agreement - and players such as Abbott and Rossouw are not willing to take the risk that the opportunity of a county contract may disappear.

Some famous cricketers who walked the Kolpak path

South Africa: Faf du Plessis, Neil McKenzie,Alviro Petersen,Ryan McLaren,Andre Nel,Colin Ingram,Jacques Rudolph,Justin Kemp,Paul Harris,Ashwell Prince,Alfonso Thomas, Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, David Wiese, Stiaan van Zyl, Simon Harmer, Hardus Viljoen

Zimbabwe: Murray Goodwin,Andy Flower,Grant Flower,Kyle Jarvis, Brendan Taylor

West Indies: Dwayne Smith,Pedro Collins,Brendan Nash,Corey Collymore

New Zealand: Andre Adams

Netherlands: Ryan ten Doeschate