Aussie cricketers' contracts terminated in $1.9 million hit

Australian players drafted for The Hundred competition have had their contracts terminated along with the rest due to the cancellation of this year's inaugural tournament.

The England and Wales Cricket Board issued letters to all players on Monday informing them of the decision, after it was announced last week the tournament had been postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

'NOTHING TO DO WITH ME’: Clarke denies ugly Katich rumour

'HARD TO BELIEVE': Clarke hits out at Usman Khawaja snub

The eight men's teams selected their squads in a draft in October last year.

Aaron Finch, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, David Warner, D'Arcy Short along with Glenn Maxwell were all snapped up on PS125,000 (AUD $236k) contracts for the new 100-ball cricket tournament to be played in England and Wales.

Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Dan Christian and Adam Zampa were picked in later rounds.

"We can confirm that a letter terminating current player contracts has been issued today to all involved," an ECB statement said.

"This letter is necessary paperwork to legally update and inform players of the situation, which follows a notification last week around the launch of the new competition being moved to 2021.

"We are working closely with PCA on a number of options for players regarding next year's launch."

The new 100-ball competition, featuring eight city-based franchises rather than the traditional 18 counties, was due to begin on July 17.

According to the Independent, contracted players had already received a percentage of their wages for the tournament but were due to receive the bulk of the money - around 80 per cent - at the conclusion of the tournament.

The newspaper said the outstanding sums totalled around STG1million ($A1.9 million) including coaches' salaries.