With the expansion of lucrative T20 leagues around the world, cricketers are finding it hard to strike the balance between franchise cricket and national duty.

In July last year, England’s ace all-rounder Ben Stokes called time on his ODI career, citing that it was "unsustainable" for him to play all three formats amid a busy schedule. Moreover, New Zealand’s star pacer Trent Boult gave up his central contract to feature in domestic leagues around the globe.

Recently, a report published in the 'Times London' claimed that owners of top IPL franchises are trying to convince as many as six leading England players to quit international cricket and sign hefty annual contracts ranging up to 5 million pounds in order to play T20 leagues round the year.

Amidst all the development in recent times, former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has opined that the time is not far when several players will choose big money in T20 leagues across the world over playing for their respective countries.

McCullum, who is currently associated with the England Test team as head coach, also cited that cricket boards would be “naive” if they think players will turn down lucrative T20 league offers to play for the country.

“In the end, the game is going in a different direction,” McCullum told Sen Radio.

“The last few years, there’s been a shifting of the sand somewhat around international cricket and we’d be completely naive to think that players would turn down huge amounts of money on long-term contracts for a lot less work in these T20 leagues because they should be playing international cricket. Those days are fast approaching to be over,” he added.

McCullum urged the cricket boards to find a solution to the tricky issue as they can’t allow their top players to play only in the leagues.

“So, what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to work with these players, you got to work with these leagues and try and allow ideally players to have their cake and eat it too because you want your best players playing (international cricket).

“It’s not good enough to say. You know what if they don’t want to play international cricket for us, then bugger them… we’ll move on and find someone different, because as a spectator, you want to see the best players in the world representing their countries,” he said.

“I think you’ve got to work with them and that’s something which we’ll be challenged with.”

The year-round domestic T20 league contracts might become going forward and McCullum feels the game’s governing bodies should ensure that players return to play international fixtures for their respective countries.

“The thing from our point of view is how do we ensure that when that decision (to play in T20 leagues for for country) comes, they’re thinking about how great of a time they have representing the England Test side,” said McCullum.

“How much fun they’ve had, how much those experiences which they’ve been able to get in an England shirt is so great that they are prepared to continue to put their yards and even though it might not be as financially viable as some of the other leagues.”

(With PTI Inputs)