Cricket: McCullum unpaid by busted IPL franchise

Brendon McCullum. Photo / AP

With the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League coming up, New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum is still out of pocket from last year.

McCullum's ill-fated franchise, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, were booted out of the IPL after their first season.

Kochi's deal was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India last September for breaching the terms of its agreement.

At the time, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said the BCCI would protect the players' rights, stating that any shortfall towards the players would be compensated by the board.

McCullum and other leading international players at Kochi, such as Sri Lankans Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan and Australian allrounder Steve Smith, were advised to file individual court cases against the owners.

New Zealand's Players' Association has stepped in to help McCullum, one of the biggest names in the IPL, recover his money.

"At the moment it's difficult to locate anyone within the old Kochi franchise to deal with on the matter," association boss Heath Mills said.

"We think we'll end up dealing with the BCCI about the recovery of money owed."

Fica, the international players' association, is working on behalf of other players, and the prevailing view is that the money will be paid out, but may take time.

There is a smaller-than-usual IPL auction set down for February 4. Using a clean slate after the first three seasons, players were last year signed to fresh contracts for three seasons, but which allows franchises to terminate it after two.

Eight New Zealand players are involved - Dan Vettori captains Royal Challengers Bangalore, Tim Southee and Scott Styris are at two-time defending champions Chennai Super Kings, New Zealand captain Ross Taylor is at Rajasthan Royals, Nathan McCullum and Jesse Ryder are with Pune Warriors and James Franklin is at Mumbai

Around a dozen New Zealand players have put their names forward for next month's auction.