^^ Sad to see only one cricketer made into this list. IMHO It shows that where cricket stands in comparison of other sports and clearly begging for more exposure in other parts of the world too, not just Subcontinent.
This has been the case almost always and will probably stay this way in the future. Very few Cricketers tend to end up in these lists since their payments are usually in currencies like INR etc which pale in comparison to USD, Pounds etc.
First world currencies will always Trump 3rd world currencies any day. Sports starts in 1st world countries can live comfortably in 3rd world countries with probably an year worth of earnings.