Cricket: Mills says the players will pay for failure

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New Zealand's underperforming cricketers don't need reminding that they must significantly raise their game, according to the boss of the players' association.

Heath Mills, general manager of the Cricket Players' Association, said he had spoken to several players since their return from India, where they were trounced 5-0 in their ODI series.

"What they all say to me is 'we've let the country down'," Mills said last night. "That's what they carry every day and they need to be accountable for that and need to rectify it."

Mills said the players knew a certain standard of performance was expected by the New Zealand cricket public and stakeholders.

"Rest assured, however badly I or other stakeholders may be feeling, for the players it's 20 times worse. There's no need to remind them; they know they've got a lot of work to do," Mills said.

The perception that players' wallets don't necessarily get lightened as a result of poor form riles Mills.

He pointed out that the leading players are all on annual contracts. Play well and they get rewarded; fail to deliver and they drop down the pecking order, with an associated cut in salary.

The top 20 players receive a basic salary before match payments. It ranges from the No 1 ranked player getting $177,000 down to the bottom three players who receive $72,000. The numbers drop $6000 with each ranking spot.

"If they don't perform during the year they will slide down the rankings and get paid less money," Mills said. "It's as simple as that and it's happened over the last few years under our system."

There were other negative spinoffs to consider. Poor performance could limit other playing opportunities, such as T20 tournaments around the globe, and sponsors could take a dimmer view of backing an under-achieving player.

"To suggest they don't get a pay cut shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the professional-sport contracting environment," Mills said. "It's a volatile environment and these guys will be feeling it on a whole host of fronts."

Mills argued that it was now time to find ways to help the players get back to the level "we know they can perform at".