AUSTRALIA captain Pat Cummins has revealed a feeling of “tension” after his Test teammates opted out of a payday in the Hundred to take part in a two-match series against Bangladesh.

No red-ball regulars put their names in for this month’s player auction due to their Test commitments with the Baggy Greens, but there were big deals for the likes of Tim David (£350,000 from Trent Rocket), Mitch Marsh (£200,000 from Sunrisers Leeds) and Adam Zampa (£190,000 from London Spirit).

And Cummins admits the clash between lucrative franchise contracts and the primacy of the longer format is only going to get harder.

“I think it’s at a tension point. It has been for a while, but I think it’s only growing,” he told the Business of Sport podcast.

“As each of these franchise leagues get well capitalised, get more sophisticated — some of these Indian franchise owners are now branching out and owning different leagues.

“As Australian captain, something we speak about is how do we make sure we’ve got our best Australian guys to choose from when we’re picking a Test side or an ODI side, because there is so much demand for them elsewhere.

“For example, during the Hundred this season we’ve got two Test matches against Bangladesh. All our guys that will play in that Test [series] have opted out of going into the Hundred auction — but that’s not going to be the case forever.

“Some of our guys are saying no to a half a million pounds for 20 days’ work to go and play those two Test matches against Bangladesh — so I think it is a tension point.”