Cricketers cash in despite 4-0 loss FIRST CHOICE: Matthew Wade may reach the top five. Picture Peter Wallis Source: The Courier-Mail UP to eight members of the team trounced 4-0 by India are set for six-figure pay rises as Australian cricket ushers in a generation of mediocre millionaires. Australia will revise a 17-man contract list and the retirements of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, combined with the decline of Brad Haddin despite his Test cameo in India, will free space and big dollars on the list. One of the many reasons behind the stagnation of Australian cricket is that many players are paid like princes but perform like paupers. Just being mediocre by international standards can sometimes be enough to set a player up for life. The Cricket Australia contract payments range from a base payment of about $2 million to No.1 player Michael Clarke down to $230,000 for the last man on the list. Players are paid $14,000 for each Test match, $5600 for a one-day international and $4200 for a Twenty20 international. Keeper Matthew Wade may have had a so-so tour of India but he will vault into the top 10 - perhaps the top five - after becoming first-choice gloveman in all three forms of the game since the start of the season. Dogged Ed Cowan, who did not have a contract just five months ago, will make the list while fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson will be considered for upgrades. South Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, cut from the list after being dropped from the Test team last season, is certain to make it this time despite desperate early struggles on the Indian tour before a late recovery. Plodding allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques, who showed flashes of form in India without convincing the tour selectors either is the genuine international article, are likely to make the list for the first time. Veteran batsman David Hussey is among those set to be cut. Australian vice-captain Shane Watson is set for a demotion after being ranked in the top few in recent years on the strength of two Allan Border Medal wins. Despite being in danger of losing his Test place, Watson will still rank highly, however, because he is one of the few players who plays all forms of the game. Watson's earnings a year are still likely to top $3 million, including his rich Indian Premier League deal. Australia recently cut the contract list from 25 to 17 in the belief it was giving too many fringe players a soft life. But the number could be reduced even further without being unfair to those toiling on the periphery of selection. Players are ranked on their contribution to the team over the previous year and their likely role in the next one.