Cricketers the top Aussie sport's earners

Lucrative cricket contracts and big pay-packets in the IPL have seen Australian cricketers dominate the 2011 BRW Sports Earners rich list.

Cricketer Shane Watson is the highest paid cricketer with the BRW reporting that for the first time in nine years cricket has become the most lucrative sport.

Watson earned up to $4 million for his efforts in all forms of the game, beating out Test captain Michael Clarke and former captain Ricky Ponting who each earned a cool $3.5 million.

Cricket however was a far cry from the richest Australian sports personalities. Basketball, a mix of motorsports and cycling dominated the overall top earners list.

Andrew Bogut, Basketball - $13 million

Casey Stoner, MotoGP racing - $9.5 million

Mark Webber, F1 racing - $9 million

Chad Reed, MotoX racing - $8.5 million

Cadel Evans, Cycling - $5 million