``Players are working hard but still cricketers in India do not get as much as those in Australia or West Indies, which is not fair,'' said Jones. ``After all, it's the players that people come to watch.''

``The ICC is milking the players with too many One-Day Internationals, killing the goose that laid the golden egg,'' he added.

Jones, the former Victorian captain who retired three months back from first class cricket, arrived in the city last night to participate in the `Clash of the Champions' at the Royal Palms Golf and Country Club. And after an afternoon practice session, he was ready to talk cricket and standing up for players' rights.

For the World Cup in England next year, the revenue is likely to be $90-110 million. But only six per cent of which will go to the players, said theVictorian.

``Players should get at least 25 per cent,'' said Jones, once ``fastest man between wickets'', for whom the change to the languorous sport of golf has come easy and with a mission.

But Jones -- who has a handicap of 9 -- has not snapped his ties with cricket even if he has decided to put on golfing gloves for the time being as he takes on Kapil Dev's golf team tomorrow.

The state cricket associations in Australia make $10-20 million a year but do not put it back into the development of the sport as they are supposed to. ``They hoard it, waiting for a rainy day so that the Packer circus does not happen again,'' he said, while trying to explain the pay dispute (Players demanded more money from the Australian Cricket Board) that rocked Australian cricket recently and is yet to be resolved.

``Its raining now,'' he said, pointing out that many talented children moved on to other sports due to lack of money in cricket.

Jones revealed that lack of communication led him to offer to captainAustralia when the pay dispute crisis threatened a players' boycott.

``I thought the team was pulling out for the wrong reasons. But when things were sorted out, I backed the players,'' added Jones who commentates on Australian radio and has a promotional contract with the Victorian Cricket Association.

But the 37-year-old considers himself too old for cricket now and wants to concentrate on golf instead. ``I am harbouring a dream of getting myself ready for the seniors by the time I am 50. I love golf with a passion. It's a sport anyone can play, its brings corporates and people together. More business is done on courses,'' he stated, making amply clear his love for the sport.

Which is probably why he would be happier if his two daughters take up golf. ``Its got more money,'' he laughed.

And which is probably what brings him here, to promote Royal Palms, meet old friends like Kapil Dev and Roger Binny, and promote a Fosters brewery that opens on Tuesday.

For when he is not an advisor to AllanBorder and the selectors (``they may or may not take my opinion but they still ask for it'') Jones is also what ``most cricketers become'' -- a media man.

But unlike most, Jones believes the game is getting better. ``You are at a stage where you have specialist players playing one type of the game and another set playing the other type.''

The man whose game was most influenced by Javed Miandad's batting and believes Bob Simpson is a good choice for Indian cricket, said Sri Lanka have the best chance to get the Commonwealth Games crown with either India or Australia in the final.

But that's for later. Right now, he has to take on old mate Kapil on a different green.