Sir Ian Botham thrilled for Ben Stokes after IPL payday

The 25-year-old, who will serve as England's Test vice-captain under Joe Root, last week landed himself a bumper deal when he was snapped up by the Rising Pune Supergiants.

However, Sir Ian, who will take the all-rounder under his wing as the new chairman of Durham, has no problem with the money on offer in the IPL.

Speaking as he was unveiled in his new role at Chester-le-Street, he said: "He [Stokes] is getting for the IPL what most guys going to China to play football are getting for a fortnight's wages.

"Cricket needs to move and I think players deserve the rewards. It's a precarious living. You can have an injury and never play again and I think people realise that now.

"You go back to what Kerry Packer did - it revolutionised the game and everyone had to wake up. We have got to move with the times and if the rewards are there, then the cricketers should be as entitled to it as a footballer or any other sportsman."

Stokes (pictured) has emerged from the ranks at Durham to establish himself as a major force on the international stage in all three formats of the game, and his swashbuckling style with bat and ball has invited comparisons with Sir Ian in his heyday.

The former England captain said with a smile: "He keeps pinching all my records.

"It's good, I love watching him do it - and of course, he's come through the ranks. He's a local boy – okay, he has a New Zealand background, but he can't even remember New Zealand.

"He is as Durham as you get. He came through the ranks and that's the opportunity. If you have got those opportunities and you have got that carrot dangling, then you are going to get more and more players wanting to have a go at it.

"Actually, I was with him the other evening and I told him that the chairman will be expecting a drink bought for him on this occasion now.

"I'm very pleased for Ben. He is box office – that's why he went for what he went for. His intention is not just to play, but to win and that's the kind of guy he is.

"He is uncomplicated, what you see is what you get and he is a breath of fresh air, so I wish him all the best. And he is very loyal to Durham County Cricket Club."

Sir Ian took over at the Durham helm determined to restore the club's fortunes after debts totalling £7.5million left them facing disaster, before a £3.8million rescue package put together by the England and Wales Cricket Board and a decision by Durham County Council to convert a similar figure into shares allowed them to regroup.

However, they will do so having been relegated to Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship and handed a 48-point deduction, among a range of penalties which also includes the loss of Test host status.

Durham hope to win a franchise for a new regional Twenty20 competition as the ECB attempts to secure the future of domestic cricket, while Sir Ian is confident a renowned academy from which Stokes and Keaton Jennings are the latest graduates to represent England will not fall victim to a proposed national restructuring exercise.

He said: "You don't re-invent the wheel, do you, and we have got it here. We are proven and tested and we are producing players, so the Durham Academy will always be here.

"It would be ridiculous not to be."