England heroes are 'losers'

They also will be hit with a £1.1m fine if they fail to fulfil their obligation to tour Zimbabwe this autumn unless they can persuade the International Cricket Council that they were instructed to do so by the Government.

The formula for Test win bonuses is determined by who the opposition are, how many games there are in a series, and where it is played.

With finances tight, the ECB restricted the number of 12-month central-contracts to just eight players last September. Apart from skipper Vaughan, they were James Anderson, Mark Butcher, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Nasser Hussain and Marcus Trescothick.

The purpose of the contracts is to put the players under the full-time management of the England staff and out of the reach of the counties.

Last year, England contracts were worth a basic £150,000 to the top band of players concerned and £125,000 to second-tier players.

Add to that additional tour fees, pooled sponsorship money, prize money and win bonuses, and players who feature consistently in both Test and one-dayers during the year will be able to earn around £400,000.

This does not take into account fees for writing, advertising and equipment endorsements.

The ECB are not the only sport governing body that is undergoing a bout of pennypinching.

The cash-strapped Football Association are believed to be trying to cut the players' bonuses for this summer's European Championship.

The FA have suggested having incentives only for reaching the semi-finals and final, although the players would share a considerably larger jackpot if they won the competition.

The Rugby Football Union are also becoming increasingly prudent.

If England had won the Grand Slam last month, they would have been paid £16,000 per man, with a jackpot of £350,000 shared between the 22-man squad. This is the same figure they would have received for winning the Grand Slam last year.