Over 200 of Australian cricketers could go unemployed as of 1st July
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200+ Australian cricketers are likely to lose their contracts on July 1 as Greg Dyer, the ACA president, clarified that it is unlikely that a resolution to end the pay dispute will happen before the June 30 deadline. Meanwhile, he also requested CA's chief executive to enter talks for a resolution.
Although Cricket Australia (CA) have revised their offer given to the Australian cricketers in a bid to resolve a bitter pay dispute that has threatened to disrupt cricket down-under in a big way, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) responded to the latest offer calling it “unacceptable”.
For starters, the ACA had been staunchly opposed to CA’s plan of modifying the existing MoU that provided a flat share of revenue for the players. CA had instead offered international men’s and women’s players a share of surpluses up to Aus$ 20 million (US$ 15 million), while increases in domestic players’ payments would be capped at 18% (men) and 150% (women).
In the wake of it, Greg Dyer, the ACA president, said it is "extremely likely" that no resolution could be made to bring an end to the dispute before the deadline. If that happens, around 230 senior players will be out of contract, which will put a huge cloud over the future of the Australian cricket. Players have also threatened to look for new employment opportunities, including playing in exhibition matches and South Africa's Global T20 league.Â
"I think it's fair to say we remain a long way apart," Dyer said. "The fundamentals of the deal are nowhere near to being resolved. We see the retention of the revenue share model as being fundamental from our perspective.
"The players have been very flexible, they have said we can look at alternative ways
"It lacked any sense of the method by which the thing was going to be calculated," he said. "It wasn't sufficient. We still lack the financial detail to properly assess where the players are likely to end up, so it wasn't an offer of acceptance and CA knew that."
Dyer also urged Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland to intervene in the ongoing dispute and stated the two most senior executives of the board and the players' collective bargaining agent should enter the talks at the earliest.
"James Sutherland has been strangely absent to date from these negotiations and we want him involved, we want him engaged," Dyer said. "It's beyond time that CA sent its most senior executive to the negotiating table and let's get this sorted out, the two CEOs sitting down and having a sensible conversation about how this can be resolved.
"I think it's fair to say we still remain a long way apart. The fundamentals of the deal are nowhere near resolved. We see the retention of the revenue share model as being fundamental from our perspective and we have not been able to engage sensibly. The players have been very flexible, they've said we can look at alternative ways of addressing that revenue share model, but we've not had any response in return. We've twice sought mediation and called for the intervention of the CEO, and we've not had any reasonable response to any of those requests."
