Do you know who the world’s best-paid cricketer is? It is Steven Smith, the Australia captain, who will earn US$1.469 million this year.

England’s Joe Root is the second highest earner with US$1.38m.

The top Indian earners in international cricket are Virat Kohli, the captain being third in the list, who pulled in approximately $1 million this year, and coach Ravi Shastri, whose annual salary of $1.17 million is comparable to that of any of the game’s top players.

Faf Du Plesis of South Africa stands in fourth position with an earning of US$0.59m.

Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan earns US$0.14 million who is just above the Zimbabwean captain Graeme Cremer who stands to earn $86,000, being the lowest in the list.

The figures are based on international cricket, and do not take into account player earnings from T20 leagues, other domestic engagements or endorsements. Most boards (see below*) pay their players a share of their commercial rights, while others don't, or distribute them differently. The pay figures in this piece do not include the various bonuses players are paid for wins and individual performances, reports thecricketmonthly.com. Factoring all those in might shuffle the rankings, but that is likelier to happen at the top of the list. And if anything, it will increase the disparity in earnings between top and bottom.

In most cases salary figures and contract details are not made available publicly; the information in this article, culled from their contacts by our correspondents from around the globe, strives to be as accurate as is possible.