Cricket Australia and players reach agreement after month-long dispute [Post #245]

[Pete Rose]

Nothing. This is PakPassion. You can guess why: because it's cricket.

In my opinion, that's my opinion. IPL harms the value of cricket with flat batting pitches, massive scoring of runs, hurt cricketers international careers. On the bright side, it's just a domestic tournament!

What does this pay dispute have to do specifically with the IPL?

 

[Pete Rose]

Don't cricketers already earn about 600,000


Why do they want more

In five years they can buy a House,Cars,Holiday home,Everything else

They should be considered as lucky as nobody watches that much cricket as the Aussie team is pretty weak

That's not how it should work. It works on basis of revenue sharing. The slice of pie is not as important as size of the pie.

 

[Billy1999]

IPL is tamasha league

 

[Abdullah719]

Cricket Australia Warns Players as Pay Row Deadline Looms

Sydney: Cricket Australia has sent a formal letter to warring players officially informing them they will be unemployed if a deal is not reached this week in their protracted pay dispute.

Amid reports that Australia's cricketers will decide this weekend whether their image rights are sold offshore, CA high performance manager Pat Howard has warned they must seek permission to play in other Twenty20 leagues.

Months of bitter negotiations are coming to a head before the current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expires on Friday with players to be unemployed if there is no resolution.

Coming tours to Bangladesh and India are also at risk along with England's showpiece Ashes tour to Australia later in the year.

With the increasing likelihood of no agreement, media are reporting that some players will seek employment in foreign T20 leagues if they are left without a contract.

CA has warned players that if they sign with competing sponsors they will not be offered new contracts, The Australian newspaper said.

The more than 200 players who will be out of contract were informed that they would not be expected to train or play and that they would not be paid for that period even when a new contract was signed, the CA email said.

The correspondence is seen as a clear sign that CA intends to dig in if players do not agree to its proposal to modify the revenue-share arrangement from previous agreements.

The Australian Cricketers' Association has been staunchly opposed to CA's plan to modify the existing MOU that provides a flat share of revenue for the players.

CA has 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 percent (men) and 150 percent (women).

In the latest CA correspondence, Howard told the players: "If your contract expires on 30 June, you will not be an employee of CA, a State Association or a W/BBL Team from 1 July.

"This means that you are not required to play, train, perform player appearances or media commitments, and you will not be paid a retainer until such time as a MOU is agreed and a player contract is agreed with you in writing."

The players have established 'The Cricketers Brand' in anticipation of a lockout but CA warned them they need to be careful about new sponsors.

"All players will be provided with a list of protected sponsors for 2017/18," Howard wrote.

"Any player entering into unapproved endorsements during any uncontracted period puts at risk future endorsement arrangements with CA, State and W/BBL partners," and "puts you at risk of not being able to enter into a contract for the upcoming season with CA, the State or W/BBL Team.”

Fairfax Media said that with a resolution unlikely before Friday's deadline suitors in India and England were ready to pounce.

The players' union told Fairfax Media that they had had inquiries from India about sponsoring a collective of Australia's most high-profile players should the pay dispute not be resolved by Friday.

The likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are huge names on the subcontinent and would be in big demand.

"The negotiations have obviously created interest overseas and there has been genuine interest from the Indian market in regards to players' IP and taking that offshore," said ACA commercial manager Tim Cruickshank.

http://www.news18.com/cricketnext/n...layers-as-pay-row-deadline-looms-1446743.html

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

I wonder,can CA send a full strength Aussie team to Bangladesh for the test series??? If not ,then it will be golden chance for bd to white wash Aussie in a home test series.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

As long as they stay united the players hold all the cards. CA will have to cave in eventually.

 

[Convict]

I'm not sure why the IPL has been brought up in this thread.

The major dispute here is over the payments to the domestic players - most of whom would never do enough to earn an IPL contract.

CA believed it could splinter the top national players (who could go IPL) from the domestic players in order to save money but the players union is working the way a union is meant to work.

I wonder,can CA send a full strength Aussie team to Bangladesh for the test series??? If not ,then it will be golden chance for bd to white wash Aussie in a home test series.

Series unlikely to happen.

 

[Titan24]

I'm not sure why the IPL has been brought up in this thread.

The major dispute here is over the payments to the domestic players - most of whom would never do enough to earn an IPL contract.

CA believed it could splinter the top national players (who could go IPL) from the domestic players in order to save money but the players union is working the way a union is meant to work.



Series unlikely to happen.

If IPL wouldnt have been there, current national players of Australia would never have taken such a strong stand as they would have known that there is no other source of income for them.

 

[Convict]

If IPL wouldnt have been there, current national players of Australia would never have taken such a strong stand as they would have known that there is no other source of income for them.

Why?

They made this exact stand twenty years ago (when Mark Taylor was Captain).

It's CA trying to go away from the shared percentage revenue model which has been in place since the late 90s.

 

[Convict]

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busi...s/news-story/8c99377c750cfe2b1fa258e57307df99

http://www.industriall-union.org/cfmeu-strikes-at-rio-tinto-mine

From 2012

RIO Tinto has called for unions to get out of the workplace, blaming them for falling productivity, as some of its coal workers planned to go on strike.
The global mining giant's Australian head said the nation had to address urgently the soaring capital costs and taxes for mining projects that had far surpassed the rest of the world, while the industry's productivity had plummeted.
For miners to be competitive, productivity had to rise faster than wages, Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever said.
He described the issue of unions as an "elephant in the room".
"Reform of the Fair Work Act needs to go much further than has so far been flagged by the government," Mr Peever told a mining conference in Perth.

As CFMEU members downed tools at Blair Athol, As CFMEU members downed tools at Blair Athol, Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever called for unions to be kicked out of workplaces all together with reform of the Fair Work Act,

Direct engagement between companies and employees, flexibility and the need for improved productivity has to be at the heart of the system. Only then can productivity and innovation be liberated from the shop floor up, and without the competing agenda of a third party constantly seeking to extend its reach into areas best left to management.called for unions to be kicked out of workplaces all together with reform of the Fair Work Act,

Direct engagement between companies and employees, flexibility and the need for improved productivity has to be at the heart of the system. Only then can productivity and innovation be liberated from the shop floor up, and without the competing agenda of a third party constantly seeking to extend its reach into areas best left to management.

and then 2015

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/peever-takes-over-as-ca-chairman/2015-10-30

Former Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever officially replaces outgoing chairman Wally Edwards
Cricket Australia has elected its first chairman independent of state interests with the appointment of former Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever.

Cricket Australia's chairman is someone who was picked from outside cricket (Wally Edwards was an inside cricket man) because of his business expertise. And his business expertise from Rio partially involved busting unions. Its no surprise that he is trying to break the ACA because given his background he probably honestly believes this is good business.

 

[MenInG]

MEDIA RELEASE
June 30, 2017

Statement on the MOU with the Australian Cricketers Association

Cricket Australia (CA) today acknowledged that a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will not be agreed before 1 July and repeated its call for the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to come to the negotiating table and show genuine flexibility in the best interests of the players and the game.

CA has been disappointed by the ACA’s unwillingness to consider the sensible and necessary change CA has proposed to the fixed share of revenue player payments model.

The model was adopted 20 years ago to address the underpayment of players. The game has changed fundamentally since then: players are now justifiably well rewarded and the modern challenge is the chronic under-funding of the grassroots of the game, particularly junior cricket.

CA believes this challenge can be met while still rewarding players very well for their undoubted contribution. CA and the State and Territory Associations are responsible for the health of the whole game, not just the elite level where more than 70 per cent of all CA funding is currently directed.

In addition to rejecting any change to the existing model, the ACA rejected out of hand and without discussion the very positive remuneration and benefits proposal made by CA in March. The proposal offers significant increases in pay and benefits for all players over the next five years.

CA’s March offer also provides women the option of pursuing a fully professional sporting career and has been hailed as a landmark achievement in gender equity in sport.

A week ago CA offered significant concessions in an effort to reach an agreement by 30 June. These were also rejected out of hand through the media - again without any discussion - by the ACA. Those concessions were a genuine attempt by CA to address key concerns raised by players, including the inclusion of all domestic players alongside internationals in the share of the game’s surplus.

Over the past months CA has repeatedly sought to engage with the ACA in a genuine dialogue and to commence a proper negotiation process. It is regrettable that these efforts have been rebuffed, resulting in the current situation which CA recognises is not in the interests of either the players or the game.

CA is concerned that many players will be without a contract from midnight tonight and this may place significant financial and emotional strain on them and their families. It is unfortunate that the ACA’s hard line and inflexible position has not been conducive to delivering any positive outcomes or certainty for players.

CA has also been dismayed that the ACA’s rhetoric, both publicly and directly to the players, has burdened the current generation of players with an unfair sense of responsibility for defending a decades old pay model that no longer suits the very different needs of the modern game. The existing revenue share model has achieved its purpose and was never intended to be an heirloom passed down over the decades, never to be changed.

The pace of change in the game has never been greater and the competition from other sports never more intense. The key to cricket’s future is strong junior and grassroots cricket, an area of the game that urgently needs a better share of the game’s resources.

CA is now asking elite players to make a contribution towards meeting this need, while still receiving very significant increases in pay and benefits over the next MOU period. CA has also committed to finding savings from across its own operations to be redirected to the grassroots.

The AFL is the latest major sport to demonstrate that it possible to achieve these objectives and also have a genuine partnership with players without the inflexibility built into cricket’s pay model.

CA remains resolute that the fixed revenue share model must change in the broader interests of cricket. It continues to believe that a new MOU can be agreed in the near future if the ACA is prepared to acknowledge the magnitude and pace of change that is occurring and come to the table with a genuine spirit of flexibility.

CA urges the ACA to do so with a renewed sense of urgency in the best interests of players and the game.

Grassroots funding

CA has previously confirmed that players without contracts will not be eligible to receive back pay when a new MOU is eventually agreed. CA will allocate on a fortnightly basis all of the money it would otherwise be paying to out of contract players to the National Community Facilities Funding Scheme (NCFFS)*. This is expected to be in the order of $1.2 million per fortnight. The NCFFS is an existing fund that supports the establishment of new and refurbished playing and training facilities at grassroots level across Australia

 

[MenInG]

MEDIA RELEASE
June 30, 2017

Statement on the MOU with the Australian Cricketers Association

Cricket Australia (CA) today acknowledged that a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will not be agreed before 1 July and repeated its call for the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to come to the negotiating table and show genuine flexibility in the best interests of the players and the game.

CA has been disappointed by the ACA’s unwillingness to consider the sensible and necessary change CA has proposed to the fixed share of revenue player payments model.

The model was adopted 20 years ago to address the underpayment of players. The game has changed fundamentally since then: players are now justifiably well rewarded and the modern challenge is the chronic under-funding of the grassroots of the game, particularly junior cricket.

CA believes this challenge can be met while still rewarding players very well for their undoubted contribution. CA and the State and Territory Associations are responsible for the health of the whole game, not just the elite level where more than 70 per cent of all CA funding is currently directed.

In addition to rejecting any change to the existing model, the ACA rejected out of hand and without discussion the very positive remuneration and benefits proposal made by CA in March. The proposal offers significant increases in pay and benefits for all players over the next five years.

CA’s March offer also provides women the option of pursuing a fully professional sporting career and has been hailed as a landmark achievement in gender equity in sport.

A week ago CA offered significant concessions in an effort to reach an agreement by 30 June. These were also rejected out of hand through the media - again without any discussion - by the ACA. Those concessions were a genuine attempt by CA to address key concerns raised by players, including the inclusion of all domestic players alongside internationals in the share of the game’s surplus.

Over the past months CA has repeatedly sought to engage with the ACA in a genuine dialogue and to commence a proper negotiation process. It is regrettable that these efforts have been rebuffed, resulting in the current situation which CA recognises is not in the interests of either the players or the game.

CA is concerned that many players will be without a contract from midnight tonight and this may place significant financial and emotional strain on them and their families. It is unfortunate that the ACA’s hard line and inflexible position has not been conducive to delivering any positive outcomes or certainty for players.

CA has also been dismayed that the ACA’s rhetoric, both publicly and directly to the players, has burdened the current generation of players with an unfair sense of responsibility for defending a decades old pay model that no longer suits the very different needs of the modern game. The existing revenue share model has achieved its purpose and was never intended to be an heirloom passed down over the decades, never to be changed.

The pace of change in the game has never been greater and the competition from other sports never more intense. The key to cricket’s future is strong junior and grassroots cricket, an area of the game that urgently needs a better share of the game’s resources.

CA is now asking elite players to make a contribution towards meeting this need, while still receiving very significant increases in pay and benefits over the next MOU period. CA has also committed to finding savings from across its own operations to be redirected to the grassroots.

The AFL is the latest major sport to demonstrate that it possible to achieve these objectives and also have a genuine partnership with players without the inflexibility built into cricket’s pay model.

CA remains resolute that the fixed revenue share model must change in the broader interests of cricket. It continues to believe that a new MOU can be agreed in the near future if the ACA is prepared to acknowledge the magnitude and pace of change that is occurring and come to the table with a genuine spirit of flexibility.

CA urges the ACA to do so with a renewed sense of urgency in the best interests of players and the game.

Grassroots funding

CA has previously confirmed that players without contracts will not be eligible to receive back pay when a new MOU is eventually agreed. CA will allocate on a fortnightly basis all of the money it would otherwise be paying to out of contract players to the National Community Facilities Funding Scheme (NCFFS)*. This is expected to be in the order of $1.2 million per fortnight. The NCFFS is an existing fund that supports the establishment of new and refurbished playing and training facilities at grassroots level across Australia

First World problems

 

[A.A.Z]

MEDIA RELEASE
June 30, 2017

Australia's top cricketers are effectively unemployed after a deadline for them to agree new pay and conditions passed without resolution.

The previous agreement between Cricket Australia and the country's leading players expired on Friday, and no new deal has been struck.

Money set aside by the governing body will be re-routed to the grassroots.

The players' union will meet on Sunday to discuss a possible boycott of the 'A' team's tour of South Africa.

That tour comprises two four-day games, with the first beginning on 12 July.

More than 200 leading cricketers are affected by the dispute, which centres on Cricket Australia's desire to remove a clause from players' contracts which guarantees them a percentage of the organisation's revenue.

The board, however, was offering increased pay deals for both the men's and women's teams.

If a deal cannot be struck, it places this winter's Ashes series against England in doubt.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/40459293

 

[MenInG]

Australian players will boycott an A tour of South Africa this month unless a new pay deal is agreed on by Cricket Australia, the Australian Cricketers’ Association said on Sunday (July 2).

The players’ union held an emergency meeting in Sydney, where they decided to take action for the tour beginning on July 12 unless a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Friday.

The ACA further escalated the bitter dispute after failing to reach an agreement with CA on a new MoU before Friday’s deadline after months of protracted negotiations.

This leaves players unemployed and threatens fixtures including this year’s prestige Ashes series.

“They don’t intend to tour but the reality is they don’t fly out of the country until Friday,” said Alistair Nicholson, the ACA chief executive, to reporters about the Australia A tour.

“So the players are going to go into camp as planned and hopefully we can make some progress with regards to the MoU. There would need to be a significant breakthrough on the key issue of the revenue sharing model.”

The players’ union said the decision was done following legal advice examining the MoU and mandated player contracts.

The ACA warned that upcoming Australian tours to Bangladesh and India were also under threat.

“Players expressed a strong desire to tour both Bangladesh and India and urged CA to support them by renewing an MoU on fair terms, allowing the tours to proceed,” the ACA said. “However, due to the fact of unemployment and the resolution and an absent MoU, there are no professional cricketers presently obliged or available to tour.”

Australia’s Test tour to Bangladesh is from August and the One-Day International series is in India in September.

There was no word from the meeting on the home Ashes series against England later this year.

http://m.wisdenindia.com/full-story.php?category=News&id=259563&

 

[QalandarFan]

Okay I understand you are making more money but how on earth can you prefer to play for a league over your own nation. Absloutley disgusted, players should be ashamed this is how you represent your country.

 

[MenInG]

MEDIA RELEASE, July 02, 2017

Cricket Australia Statement on MOU Negotiations

Cricket Australia (CA) notes the Australian Cricketers' Association advice that players are unavailable to tour South Africa in the absence of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Australia A is a development tour which gives players an opportunity to perform at a high level. It is therefore surprising that players would elect not to tour, however CA has never, and would never attempt to force anyone to play for an Australian team who is unwilling to do so.

CA remains ready to negotiate a new MOU and has again called on the ACA to show genuine flexibility and commence negotiations in the best interests of the players and the game.

 

[Junaids]

Okay I understand you are making more money but how on earth can you prefer to play for a league over your own nation. Absloutley disgusted, players should be ashamed this is how you represent your country.

Absolute nonsense.

The cricketers have been sacked by their board. They want to play for their country, but they are unemployed.

Other employers in similar circumstances in Australia honour the previous collective employment agreement until a new one is agreed. Cricket Australia has not.

This is about an out-of-control board seeking to buy off the star players with a one-off pay rise while destroying the agreement to revenue share with players at all levels. Cricket Australia is trying to steal from the players.

 

[PennOne]

I would fault the players. The boards have always been and always will be greedy but the players are in it for the game first money second thats how i see it in sports

 

[Junaids]

I would fault the players. The boards have always been and always will be greedy but the players are in it for the game first money second thats how i see it in sports

No offence, but you don't know what you're talking about.

The elite players are taking a stand to protect the EXISTING conditions for domestic male and female players.

Every major sport in Australia has a collective agreement by which the players - at all levels - are guaranteed a minimum percentage of the profits, like in American sport. Australian Rules Football just got it.

Cricket Australia is trying to strike deals individually with its star players so that it can rip off the poorer domestic ones.

Fortunately they are standing together.

This is common in Australia.

Until three years ago as a salaried medical specialist in Queensland I had terms and conditions negotiated by my union with the employer for all such specialists. We then got a barking mad far-right government which abolished collective agreements in favour of "individual contracts."

Like the Aussie players, I wasn't allowed to negotiate any substantive part of the contract anyway. The government used its monopoly power to give me a 5% pay cut and a reduction of my paid annual leave by one week per year. (That government was thrown out at the next election and my collective contract was restored).

That's the kind of deal being offered to the cricketers. And they are right to reject it.

My politics are right of centre, but not that far right of centre. The greatness of Australia is actually the amazing industrial climate, which ensures that no poor person has to work two jobs and that no adult can be paid less than $18.29 per hour or have less than two consecutive days off work per week, or less than four weeks paid holiday per year.

That's why I've never met an Australian with a maid or a cook.

One far-right executive at Cricket Australia is trying to bust the players union. And he needs to be stopped.

 

[Junaids]

Cricket Australia loses player image rights....and the players

The Australian Cricketers Association has just released to the media the fourteen resolutions agreed unanimously by all male and female Australian cricketers on Saturday.

This followed the employer, Cricket Australia, refusing to sign a new player deal and making all its players unemployed with effect from midnight on Friday.

Twelve of the fourteen resolutions are predictable. Two are quite monumental.

Firstly, all Australian cricketers have assigned their future image rights to the Australian Cricketers Association, not Cricket Australia. Even if a deal is reached, Cricket Australia will not in future be able to use any Australian cricketer's image at any time without paying royalties to the Australian Cricketers Association.

Secondly, the players have said that they wish to play the Ashes. But they have unanimously agreed to explore a model by which, if Cricket Australia fails to enter into mediation at CEO level to resolve and quickly agree new contractual arrangements, all currently unemployed state and international cricketers will sign a contract with the Australian Cricketers Association.

This would mean that the likes of Starc, Smith and Warner could only play The Ashes in five months if Cricket Australia agreed to pay the Cricketers Association handsomely to subcontract its contracted players to Cricket Australia!

Cricket Australia has managed to turn the most right-wing group of workers in Australia into a militantly unionised organisation. But it looks as if it has also created a situation in which that union, rather than Cricket Australia, will have contractual control of the players!

 

[Junaids]

The new image rights organisation is called "The Cricketers Brand."

And it was set up when the ACA realised that Cricket Australia had taken in $40 million of digital and online revenue during the last contract term, but had failed to share any of that with the players.

 

[Convict]

The Australian Cricketers Association has just released to the media the fourteen resolutions agreed unanimously by all male and female Australian cricketers on Saturday.

This followed the employer, Cricket Australia, refusing to sign a new player deal and making all its players unemployed with effect from midnight on Friday.

Twelve of the fourteen resolutions are predictable. Two are quite monumental.

Firstly, all Australian cricketers have assigned their future image rights to the Australian Cricketers Association, not Cricket Australia. Even if a deal is reached, Cricket Australia will not in future be able to use any Australian cricketer's image at any time without paying royalties to the Australian Cricketers Association.

Secondly, the players have said that they wish to play the Ashes. But they have unanimously agreed to explore a model by which, if Cricket Australia fails to enter into mediation at CEO level to resolve and quickly agree new contractual arrangements, all currently unemployed state and international cricketers will sign a contract with the Australian Cricketers Association.

This would mean that the likes of Starc, Smith and Warner could only play The Ashes in five months if Cricket Australia agreed to pay the Cricketers Association handsomely to subcontract its contracted players to Cricket Australia!

Cricket Australia has managed to turn the most right-wing group of workers in Australia into a militantly unionised organisation. But it looks as if it has also created a situation in which that union, rather than Cricket Australia, will have contractual control of the players!

You're political daydreams from your days as a lad in Northern England are leaking through.

That won't happen. One of the conditions in returns to keeping the revenue share agreement will be to destroy that.

 

[Convict]

No offence, but you don't know what you're talking about.

The elite players are taking a stand to protect the EXISTING conditions for domestic male and female players.

Every major sport in Australia has a collective agreement by which the players - at all levels - are guaranteed a minimum percentage of the profits, like in American sport. Australian Rules Football just got it.

Cricket Australia is trying to strike deals individually with its star players so that it can rip off the poorer domestic ones.

Fortunately they are standing together.

This is common in Australia.

Until three years ago as a salaried medical specialist in Queensland I had terms and conditions negotiated by my union with the employer for all such specialists. We then got a barking mad far-right government which abolished collective agreements in favour of "individual contracts."

Like the Aussie players, I wasn't allowed to negotiate any substantive part of the contract anyway. The government used its monopoly power to give me a 5% pay cut and a reduction of my paid annual leave by one week per year. (That government was thrown out at the next election and my collective contract was restored).

That's the kind of deal being offered to the cricketers. And they are right to reject it.

My politics are right of centre, but not that far right of centre. The greatness of Australia is actually the amazing industrial climate, which ensures that no poor person has to work two jobs and that no adult can be paid less than $18.29 per hour or have less than two consecutive days off work per week, or less than four weeks paid holiday per year.

That's why I've never met an Australian with a maid or a cook.

One far-right executive at Cricket Australia is trying to bust the players union. And he needs to be stopped.

CA is right that 240,000 a year for Sheffield Shield players is quite reasonable. The push has come from Peever but imo refusing to even negotiate this point by the ACA (they don't have to agree but at least seeing what is to offer) has been poor.

 

[ipl_fan]

Okay I understand you are making more money but how on earth can you prefer to play for a league over your own nation. Absloutley disgusted, players should be ashamed this is how you represent your country.

Cricketers have a really small shelf life. Let them earn their living in whichever way they feel is best for them. Get off the moral high horse and start thinking standing their shoes. Will you forego a chance to make a decent paycheck ??

 

[MMHS]

Why?

They made this exact stand twenty years ago (when Mark Taylor was Captain).

It's CA trying to go away from the shared percentage revenue model which has been in place since the late 90s.

Actually, this happened at least 3 more times in past - in 1881, a full new XI played an Ashes Test (& got hammered) after top players went for a strike.

All players went for strike before 1932-33 (Body line) Ashes, it was solved somewhat, but Bradman & few others missed the 1st Test.

Ian Chappel's AUS had lots of tug of war with ACB (when Bradman was head, or something like that & he was main person in that bargain), which eventually ended in Packers' WSC

 

[MMHS]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION], can this dispute be solved at Court? I think, twice NBA & MLB lock-out was solved at court.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

I have a feeling the CA will bow down to the players'(ACA's)demands within the next 3 days.

 

[Junaids]

CA is right that 240,000 a year for Sheffield Shield players is quite reasonable. The push has come from Peever but imo refusing to even negotiate this point by the ACA (they don't have to agree but at least seeing what is to offer) has been poor.

It depends upon the revenue, doesn't it?

Cricket Australia has doubled its non-cricket workforce in the last three years and treats the administrators better than the players. When I was at the Adelaide InterContinental last year, James Sutherland had executive lounge access like the Channel Nine crew, but the people who he is meant to serve - the players - did not. This year if I see him in there he will get a piece of my mind.

It's all very well to say that domestic players are well paid on $240,000 per year. But their career lasts at most a decade. And even second string non-international footballers in England - Lee Cattermole for example - earn nearly twenty times as much.

More to the point, Indian cricketers earn ten times as much.

So if Cricket Australia revenue goes up, so should the players' cut.

The players are not asking for free money. They are asking to RETAIN their entitlement to a fixed percentage of the profits.

By the way, look at the political landscape.

From the PM-in-waiting Bill Shorten to Senator Doug Cameron to former PM Bob Hawke, this is a country built on strong and positive unionisation. And I say that as - in Aussie terms - a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal.

Sooner or later somebody needs to realise that Howard and Abbott ended their own tenures as PM by picking needless and unwinnable fights with the unions - as did Campbell Newman in Queensland and Jeff Kennett in Victoria.

We need to see the unions as partners, not try to win ideological wars by destroying them. David Peever has done untold damage to Australian cricket with his War on Unions.

 

[Gilly]

So Junaids you are on a collective agreement and a card carrying union member.

 

[Junaids]

So Junaids you are on a collective agreement and a card carrying union member.

Like pretty much every Aussie cricketer - certainly Dave Warner and Ed Cowan - I am a highly paid professional who votes Liberal, and enjoys the benefits of a Collective Employment Contract negotiated between the employer and the Professional Association (Australian Medical Association) of which I am a member.

The AMA is similar to a union in its functions, and I pay $1200 as my annual subscription. Funnily enough, AMA office bearers often become Liberal MPs.

You can be a highly paid right-of-centre capitalist and support unions. I am one, and it's what made Germany economically strong.

The cricketers are in the exact same position I was in when Campbell Newman put me into a "modern individual contract" without allowing aspects of it to be negotiated.

"Modern individual contracts" means "take it or leave it".

I'm sitting at Huntington Beach in California as I write. It's collective bargaining that won my colleagues and I the right to have 5 weeks paid annual leave plus 5 weeks paid annual conference leave.

Cricket Australia is trying to divide and rule the players. But I like the fact that Ed Cowan earns $240,000 as a domestic cricketer, and unlike David Peever I don't want to make the players poorer and the bureaucrats and administrators fatter!

 

[CricketAnalyst]

Like pretty much every Aussie cricketer - certainly Dave Warner and Ed Cowan - I am a highly paid professional who votes Liberal, and enjoys the benefits of a Collective Employment Contract negotiated between the employer and the Professional Association (Australian Medical Association) of which I am a member.

The AMA is similar to a union in its functions, and I pay $1200 as my annual subscription. Funnily enough, AMA office bearers often become Liberal MPs.

You can be a highly paid right-of-centre capitalist and support unions. I am one, and it's what made Germany economically strong.

The cricketers are in the exact same position I was in when Campbell Newman put me into a "modern individual contract" without allowing aspects of it to be negotiated.

"Modern individual contracts" means "take it or leave it".

I'm sitting at Huntington Beach in California as I write. It's collective bargaining that won my colleagues and I the right to have 5 weeks paid annual leave plus 5 weeks paid annual conference leave.

Cricket Australia is trying to divide and rule the players. But I like the fact that Ed Cowan earns $240,000 as a domestic cricketer, and unlike David Peever I don't want to make the players poorer and the bureaucrats and administrators fatter!

I am a libertarian who supports capitalism 100% and I'm on the players side here.

This has nothing to do with ideology. Players are generating the revenue and they deserve their share of it. Unlike in 99.9% of jobs the contribution of these specific individuals is what drives the revenue, not the generic fact that someone is willing to play cricket.

 

[Junaids]

I am a libertarian who supports capitalism 100% and I'm on the players side here.

This has nothing to do with ideology. Players are generating the revenue and they deserve their share of it. Unlike in 99.9% of jobs the contribution of these specific individuals is what drives the revenue, not the generic fact that someone is willing to play cricket.

Exactly!

Don't be confused by the word Liberal for the party that Warner, Cowan and myself all support.

It is our right wing free enterprise small government party in Australia.

But where we differ from American or Indian capitalists is that 100% of Liberal voters support universal free healthcare paid by taxes and a minimum wage high enough to ensure that no Australian has to work two jobs.

Prime Minister Turnbull, like me, is pragmatic about unions and employees' working conditions.

Unfortunately David Peever at Cricket Australia is an anti-union zealot, and has precipitated this unnecessary and destructive impasse.

 

[A.A.Z]

Cricket Australia high performance chief Pat Howard sticks by polarising comments made to Bushrangers

Cricket Australia high performance manager Pat Howard is sticking by polarising comments he made to members of Victoria's squad at a meeting at the MCG on Monday.

As the pay dispute rolls on following the expiry of the memorandum of understanding on Friday, Howard and CA's lead negotiator Kevin Roberts fronted a group of Victoria's Sheffield Shield-winning squad at a meeting also attended by Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide and CV's general manager of cricket Shaun Graf.

Howard and Roberts fronted the Bushrangers to explain and field questions about CA's plans, particularly in regard to the fractious pay situation, which has placed upcoming tours to South Africa and Bangladesh in jeopardy.

It's understood several Bushrangers were unhappy with the way CA addressed the pay dispute, with the key issue being CA's desire to end the 20-year revenue-sharing model.

However pay was not the sole point of contention. Several players referred to comments made by Howard in relation to the Matador Cup one-day domestic competition. It has moved in recent years from a league played throughout most of the summer to a tournament-style competition played in two cities – in part to replicate international play.

Howard described it as a pre-season competition.

The meeting has been confirmed by CA, CV and players, with Howard understood to be unapologetic about his comments, which emphasised the primacy of red-ball cricket – and in particular the Sheffield Shield – in line with recommendations made in the Argus report of 2011.

The meeting was held as members of the Australia A squad, due to tour South Africa later this month, arrived in Brisbane for a pre-tour camp starting on Tuesday.

The players have resolved not to tour South Africa unless the MOU can be finalised, refusing to sign individual tour contracts.

One member of Victoria's 2016-2017 squad told Fairfax Media he was fairful of the damage being done to the game by the lingering saga.

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cric...ents-made-to-bushrangers-20170703-gx3w0p.html

 

[MenInG]

FICA EXTENDS SUPPORT TO THE ACA & AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL

The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) today extended its support to the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) and its members. 230 professional cricketers, whom it represents, have been rendered unemployed following the ending of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the players and Cricket Australia (CA) and the failure of CA to negotiate a new agreement with the ACA based on the same partnership principles of the previous MOU.

FICA is concerned with CA’s desire to end the percentage revenue sharing model that has so successfully underpinned the partnership between the players and administrators in Australia for twenty years. The model has not only been hugely successful for Australian cricket but has been a model of best practice adopted by associations in cricket and other sports, worldwide.

FICA is also seriously concerned with CA’s approach to its dealings with the ACA throughout this ongoing process. FICA commends the ACA and the Australian players for their unity and resolve and for their consistent attempts to negotiate with CA in a professional and transparent manner, including their willingness to use independent mediation to reach a resolution.

FICA notes the indications given by CA that it may attempt to restrict now un-contracted players from competing in other cricket events by refusing to grant them a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or threatening them with future playing bans. FICA reiterates its strong opposition to any artificial restrictions that unfairly attempt to prevent players from earning a living and that have not been agreed with players or their representatives. FICA believes that such restrictions would be open to legal challenge in most jurisdictions as a restraint of trade.

The entire FICA Board has offered its support to the ACA and the Australian players.

Vikram Solanki, FICA President said:

“The players are the game. History has shown that where country boards work in genuine partnership with players and their representatives the game thrives and succeeds. Cricket is at a crucial moment in its history, with new and competing markets for players, fans and broadcasters. I believe that boards should be working more collaboratively with players in the current cricket landscape, not pushing them away.”

Tony Irish, FICA Executive Chairman and SACA CEO said:

“FICA and its member associations stand shoulder to shoulder in support of the ACA and the Australian cricketers in their current dispute with their board. As an important stakeholder in the game, players and their associations deserve to be treated with professionalism and respect. It is in the interests of everyone in the world game that the situation in Australia is resolved quickly and in a manner that is acceptable to the players collectively.”

Lisa Sthalekar, FICA Independent Board Member and ACA Executive Member said:

“It has been heartening to see the unity shown from the male and female players across Australia at a time when they have come under immense pressure. I know there is a lot of support around the world for the principled stance they are taking to maintain a genuine partnership for all players, not just a few.”

Graeme Smith, FICA Independent Board Member said:

“I was part of a revenue share partnership model for many years as a player and this was a critical factor in fostering the relationship between Board and players. In the current cricket environment where players have other options I don’t understand why a board would want to change a partnership that has proved to be successful.”

 

[3rdWheel]

players shouldn't be greedy. There are other leagues which they can play and earn money.

 

[A.A.Z]

Michael Clarke Feels Pay Dispute Must End to Allow Cricketers to Play

Sydney: Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke feels that the current situation in Australian cricket must be sorted at the earliest and the players should be allowed to focus on the upcoming Ashes. He also feels that while the women’s team deserves praise for their current showing in the ICC Women’s World Cup, the media is busy covering the on-going pay dispute.

Clarke feels that the current Memorandum of Understanding should continue to be in effect for the next 12 months while Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) can sort out the issues behind closed doors.

"I think what needs to happen is keep the current MOU for the next 12 months, and allow the players to get back to what (they) do best – train, prepare, get ready for some important cricket," Clarke told reporters at the launch of Channel Nine's upcoming summer of cricket in Sydney.

"Cricket Australia, the ACA please go behind closed doors and sort this in private. The two MOUs that I was around for, both of them weren't done by June 30, they both got extended so I don't see any difference here.

"Just keep the same MOU for the next 12 months to allow negotiations to, let's say the word continue, but sort negotiations out. The players want to play, they want to play for their country, there's no doubt about it.

"Let's allow them to play while this stuff gets sorted out in the background. I hate the fact that I've arrived back from England and this is taking media coverage over … the women on fire over in England at the World Cup. They're not even getting a look-in in the media because the MOU is taking up those pages. I think it's **** for the game," he said.

The Australian players are currently unemployed as they have a pay dispute to settle with Cricket Australia. The Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) has extended its support to the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA).

"FICA is concerned with CA's desire to end the percentage revenue sharing model that has so successfully underpinned the partnership between the players and administrators in Australia for twenty years," FICA said in a media statement.

"The model has not only been hugely successful for Australian cricket but has been a model of best practise adopted by associations in cricket and other sports, worldwide," the statement said.

According to FICA, 230 professional cricketers, whom it represents, have been rendered unemployed following the ending of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the players and CA and the failure of the latter to negotiate a new agreement with the ACA based on the same partnership principles of the previous MOU.

http://www.news18.com/cricketnext/n...-end-to-allow-cricketers-to-play-1451201.html

 

[Convict]

I am a libertarian who supports capitalism 100% and I'm on the players side here.

This has nothing to do with ideology. Players are generating the revenue and they deserve their share of it. Unlike in 99.9% of jobs the contribution of these specific individuals is what drives the revenue, not the generic fact that someone is willing to play cricket.

Sheffield Shield players are generating the revenue?

 

[A.A.Z]

Players train ahead of Australia A tour of South Africa despite pay dispute

Players turned up for training on Tuesday ahead of the Australia A tour of South Africa, despite the threat to boycott the trip because of a bitter pay dispute. After months of negotiations the players and Cricket Australia (CA) have failed to reach agreement on a new pay deal, leaving 230 players unemployed since the end of June when their contracts expired. The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) executive Alistair Nicholson said a “significant breakthrough” in the stand-off was needed by Friday for the South Africa tour to proceed. Nevertheless, players were sticking to their schedule and reported for training with coach Jason Gillespie in Brisbane for the tour which is due to start on July 12. Australia A likely to boycott SA tour if MoU not signed

“As a coach, I’ll help the players prepare as well as we can,” Australia A coach Gillespie told reporters. “We have to have the attitude as if we are going to be travelling.” The pay row also threatens to derail upcoming Australia tours to Bangladesh and India as well as this year’s prestige home Ashes series against England. Cricket Australia’s national talent manager Greg Chappell told reporters that he remained optimistic that a swift solution could be found. “I’m expecting that we will see a positive resolution in the not too distant future and we will get back to focusing on the cricket,” he said Tuesday.

CA and the players’ union hit an impasse after the board attempted to scrap a 20-year-old arrangement of giving cricketers a fixed share of revenues, in favour of dividing surpluses among elite players and offering a pay rise. Former Australian captain Michael Clarke urged the parties to extend the existing deal for 12 months to allow for more negotiations. ”Just keep the same MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the next 12 months to allow negotiations to, let’s say the word continue, but sort negotiations out,” he said in Sydney.

“The players want to play, they want to play for their country, there’s no doubt about it.”

http://www.cricketcountry.com/news/...ur-of-south-africa-despite-pay-dispute-621911

 

[Suleiman]

[July 06, 2017
Statement on Australia A Tour to South Africa

Cricket Australia (CA) is disappointed that players have today confirmed that they are unwilling to take part in the Australia A tour of South Africa. CA has never and would never attempt to compel any player to represent Australia at any level if they were unwilling to do so.

Australia A gives players an opportunity to perform and gain experience at a high level against quality international opposition. CA has today advised Cricket South Africa of the players’ decision.

The Australia A tour was projected to cost CA in the vicinity of $250,000 to stage. All funds that can be recouped as a result of not touring will be allocated by CA to the National Communities Facilities Fund.

Australia A squad members with multi-year state and BBL contracts will continue to have these honoured.

Cricket Australia regrets that players have made this decision despite progress made in talks between CA and the ACA in meetings over the past week.

These talks included regular communication between CEOs.

While a new MOU has not yet been agreed, CA is of the view that these talks should have enabled the tour to proceed as planned.

CA will continue to work towards a new MOU which is in the interests of both the players and the game and calls upon the ACA to show the flexibility clearly now needed to achieve that outcome.

Official CA statement

 

[Junaids]

They are not "boycotting the tour".

They have been made unemployed by Cricket Australia.

And Cricket Australia - not the Australian Cricketers Association - continues to refuse to accept independent mediation.

I've paid thousands of dollars for hotels, flights and accommodation both for the Ashes Test at Adelaide in December and the Tests in Durban and Port Elizabeth in February and March.

I support the players 100%, and if my matches don't take place, so be it.

 

[James]

BTW I am 100% behind the players in this. Unlike some wealthy liberal hypocrites I am behind them for the right reasons as well.

 

[Gilly]

BTW I am 100% behind the players in this. Unlike some wealthy liberal hypocrites I am behind them for the right reasons as well.

Good to see James, we need more people like you who are right.

 

[James]

Good to see James, we need more people like you who are right.

Given your posting history I'm sure we are all very surprised to see you taking the side of Cricket Australia on this.

 

[Specialisttailender]

Australian Women are overpaid for their value, same goes from Sheffield. Im with CA.

 

[Junaids]

Australian Women are overpaid for their value, same goes from Sheffield. Im with CA.

Without the domestic male players, the national team would be Zimbabwe.

As for the women, are you following the pay scandal at Wimbledon? The days of paying male sportsmen more than women for the same job are rapidly drawing to a close in advanced countries.

In most disputes, both sides are at fault to some degree.

In this case, the fault lies 100% with Cricket Australia and 0% with the now unemployed players.

In fact, I'd give David Peever 90% of the blame for being a fundamentalist anti-employee zealot, and CEO James Sutherland 10% of the blame for being too weak and spineless to stand up to the zealot.

And if you are aware of how Channel Nine's Ashes advertising launch went earlier this week, Cricket Australia's advertisers are incensed.

Industrial relations is not a binary Employer Good Union Bad equation. And people on my side of politics - right of centre - need to wake up and realise this.

I'm not exactly a socialist. Yesterday I visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and bought myself a souvenir Reagan-Bush '84 T-shirt.

But my side of politics - especially in Australia - frequently destroys itself by taking anti-union zealotry too far.

Which is why we are four months out from The Ashes and Cricket Australia has no contracted players, and has lost the players' image rights for five years.

 

[Specialisttailender]

Without the domestic male players, the national team would be Zimbabwe.

As for the women, are you following the pay scandal at Wimbledon? The days of paying male sportsmen more than women for the same job are rapidly drawing to a close in advanced countries.

In most disputes, both sides are at fault to some degree.

In this case, the fault lies 100% with Cricket Australia and 0% with the now unemployed players.

In fact, I'd give David Peever 90% of the blame for being a fundamentalist anti-employee zealot, and CEO James Sutherland 10% of the blame for being too weak and spineless to stand up to the zealot.

And if you are aware of how Channel Nine's Ashes advertising launch went earlier this week, Cricket Australia's advertisers are incensed.

Industrial relations is not a binary Employer Good Union Bad equation. And people on my side of politics - right of centre - need to wake up and realise this.

I'm not exactly a socialist. Yesterday I visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and bought myself a souvenir Reagan-Bush '84 T-shirt.

But my side of politics - especially in Australia - frequently destroys itself by taking anti-union zealotry too far.

Which is why we are four months out from The Ashes and Cricket Australia has no contracted players, and has lost the players' image rights for five years.

Why should inferior players be paid more ? They all can't be what they want to be, but they can always pretend like you.

LOL you are comparing Wimbledon with Female cricketers ? Serena Williams and Mara Sharapova are much more famous than any male cricketers can dream off. How many people are flocking into watching the on going women's WC? In fact does the average joe even know that there is a women's WC going on ? So stop comparing Women's Cricket with Tennis.

I don't want to reply to rest of the message as I know those didn't happen, you are trying so hard to prove you are a doctor.

 

[Suleiman]

Steve Simth on his Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/steve_smith49/

 

[Waseem]

Cricket pay dispute: Players' Association slams Cricket Australia's David Peever over sabotage suggestion

The Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) has hit back at Cricket Australia (CA) chairman David Peever, saying his intervention into the pay dispute has done "nothing to further any progress" in finding a resolution.

Peever has written a column in The Australian newspaper, defending CA's approach to the pay negotiations and criticising the ACA for being "reckless".

Negotiations to resolve the impasse are continuing, with 230 cricketers out of contract, while doubt has been cast on upcoming tours of Bangladesh and India, as well as this summer's Ashes series.

"The imputation that the players and the ACA are sabotaging the game is wrong," the ACA said in a statement.

The parties are at odds over CA's attempt to dismantle a fixed-revenue-sharing system of player payments, which has been in place for the last two decades.

Critics of Peever say he is motivated by an ideological, anti-union agenda, but he dismisses the suggestion, saying it is "a myth, and deeply insulting to many people across the cricket spectrum".

Peever is a former managing director of Rio Tinto's Australian operations and he once made a speech publicly campaigning for "direct engagement between companies and employees … without the competing agenda of a third party, constantly seeking to extend its reach into areas best left to management".

Many observers see the fingerprints of this philosophy in CA's approach to the current pay dispute, particularly in its attempts to bypass the ACA and offer senior players individual contract offers.

Peever said those earlier comments were given in a "completely different context" but nevertheless defended their substance.

"It's an uncontroversial view shared by all reasonable people," he wrote in The Australian.

But this "uncontroversial view" is not shared by the players, who have repeatedly asked CA to stop contacting them directly, and instead go through the ACA.

Peever also took aim at the association's PR strategy, describing it as "a campaign of such sustained ferocity that anyone could be forgiven for thinking CA was proposing the reintroduction of slavery".

ACA refuse to apologise for 'holding CA to account'

In its tone and message, Peever's column stands in sharp contrast to the narrative of the past week, where piecemeal progress had been reported from both the ACA and CA.

CA director Mark Taylor said on Tuesday compromise was needed on "both sides", while CA chief executive James Sutherland and his ACA counterpart, Alistair Nicholson, came together for a face-to-face meeting earlier this week.

Against that background, the ACA said the timing of Peever's column was "disappointing".

While the bickering continues, domestic cricketers are continuing to train with their respective state squads. These squads are now split between a minority who have contracts that extend beyond the most recent MOU (70 players nationally) and the rest who are no longer being paid.

"It is almost two weeks after CA have forced the players in to unemployment and is refusing to back-pay them, despite the players training for free," the ACA said in its statement.

"The ACA don't apologise for holding CA to account or for asking the hard questions on behalf of our members that must be answered for the betterment of cricket."

Some players have already sought assistance from the ACA's player hardship fund, while others are considering part-time work outside of cricket.

Retired Australia Test bowler Jason Gillespie has called on both sides to end the game of "*** for tat" in the media.

"Why have there been so many press releases stating disappointment at the lack of meaningful talks?" he asked in a column for The Roar website.

Gillespie was meant to be in South Africa coaching the Australia A team, before that tour became the first on-field casualty of the pay dispute.

"Find a compromise and let's get on with the cricket," he said.

"It's not a great look for our game."

Australia is due to play a two-Test series in Bangladesh in late August, leaving the parties with about four weeks to reach an agreement.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-13/cricket-pay-dispute-aca-slam-ca-chairman/8706668

 

[MenInG]

Chennai: Australian legend Matthew Hayden said that the India tour is a premium test event in their cricket culture and it is important to quickly resolve the pay dispute as there is a lot at stake.

"I think it will get resolved. But I am not sure how it will get resolved. That is because there have been mediation efforts and that have not been accepted," Hayden told PTI.

"Plans have been laid out pretty substantially. There has to be a meeting of the minds. And, it has to happen quickly. We have a tour of India coming up as well. It is very important part of meeting the ICC future tours programme.

"There is a lot at stake. Not to mention of the Ashes. (Matches against) India and the Ashes are the premium test match events in the Australian cricket culture. There is so much to lose by not resolving the issues."

Talking about Test cricket, Hayden said the longer format of the game can never be replaced and it is important how the administrators and ICC balance it with the other formats.

"I have heard arguments that T20 cricket is always going to be a problem. T20 cricket is a solution. Test cricket is also a solution, to a different audience. You will never ever get test match cricket replaced. But, the administrators and International Cricket Council (ICC) in particular have to acknowledge the changing face of test cricket.

"To have 14 test matches in a domestic summer in India is going to have effects on the fan base of cricket. No questions. Then you add on the other layers, of ODIs and T20 international(s). Something has got to give.

"I don't believe that the ICC is addressing the future tours programme as it could be to acknowledge the importance of T20 cricket, but also at the end of the stick acknowledge every stakeholder in the game loves test cricket. How do you balance that programme, is important.

"You have to be careful about branding of test match cricket. This is what I think Australia and England have done particularly well, and South Africa, to a degree. They have protected the tradition of the game. Test match cricket is our bluechip property. There has to be a careful balance between T20 and One-day cricket," said Hayden, who is here as a commentator for the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL).

Asked to compare the styles of India captain Virat Kohli and Australian skipper Steven Smith, Hayden, who played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, said, "I don't think it can be done. They are very different personalities. I will say Virat is part of the modern face of India.

"A bold personality. He is a resilient personality as well and is prepared to take a stand. His natural game as is Smith's natural game are almost similar. They are incredibly skilled and are the best players in their respective teams.

"They have a very different style of captaincy. One is a little here, kind of, while Smith is slightly laidback. Both have got extremely strong personalities."

On CSK's return to the IPL fold in 2018, the Australian said, "I don't think you can get a bigger fan of CSK than Hayden. I really missed CSK in the last two years. I was very disappointed that they were not there in the last two editions of IPL.

"The team's success has been incredible and their fan base is massive. Importantly, it has been primarily focused on the key asset, cricket."

About Pakistan's triumph in the recent Champions Trophy in England, he said, "Pakistan is such an enigma. I would have lost my life's savings on Pakistan if I had said they would win the Champions Trophy and that too over India!

"They're such a dangerous side and they're fantastic front-runners. That was a perfect set-up for them, get a big score in a big match and get India to chase it down. It would have had to been a perfect run-chase for India to win.

"I can't help but think for a tournament I don't believe in, it is such an unnecessary ICC tournament. But I couldn't help but think if you're going to play it, at least the right number of people are going to watch it when Pakistan and India play together.

"So I was pleased for the tournament from a marketing point of view. Had it have been Australia vs New Zealand, no one would have cared less," he added.

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/mat...ve-cricket-australia-pay-dispute-3828929.html

 

[MenInG]

Cricket Australia has imposed a deadline on the stalled Memorandum of Understanding negotiations and indicated that if a heads of agreement is not reached by early next week the matter will be taken to a formal arbitration process.

CA Chief Executive James Sutherland told a media conference today the ongoing dispute had reached the point where next month's proposed Test tour to Bangladesh, a subsequent one-day series in India and "dare I say it", the upcoming Ashes series against England are potentially at risk.

Expressing his concern about the delays and what he claimed was a "lack of urgency" being shown towards reaching an outcome on the dispute which has been playing out for months, Sutherland called on the Australian Cricketers' Association to enter into a period of intensive negotiations over coming days.

If that process has not delivered a sufficient level of consensus to deliver a Heads of Agreement, the matter will be referred to immediately to an independent arbitrator with CA pledging to 'accept the umpires' decision.

Sutherland dismissed the proposal put forward last week by the players' union as a possible 'peace plan' as delivering an outcome that was detrimental to future investment in grassroots cricket, and has called for the ACA to address the impasse as a matter of priority.

He said today's announcement by CA would enable players to be re-contracted on an interim basis at the start of arbitration, and to remain contracted until the final MOU can be signed.

Under those short-term contracting arrangements until a new agreement is reached, men would be employed under the terms of the previous MOU which expired on June 30, while Australia and domestic women's players – who were not included in that MOU – would be contracted according to CA's proposed new model.

"I've been involved in the negotiations over the last month and while there's been some progress in that time, I've had some increasing concerns about whether everyone is going at the same pace and dealing with this issue with the same level of urgency," Sutherland said.

"I acknowledge the ACA has put forward a document known as a peace plan, it claims that there could be something like $30 million that flow to grassroots that plan but like any plan, the devil is in the detail.

"And certainly, as we do our analysis on that plan, we find that cricket as whole is worse off and certainly our ability to fund greater investment in grassroots is compromised by the way that plan is put together."

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/jame...ters-association-revenue-pay-money/2017-07-27

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Question for [MENTION=132373]Convict[/MENTION]:

Why is the ACA saying that the Ashes could still be cancelled even if a deal is reached? That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[MenInG]

James Sutherland addressed media in Melbourne today, to provide an update on the current MOU impasse.

Audio from the opportunity is available here.

Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have not yet been able to reach agreement on a number of important issues in negotiations over a new MOU.

These issues need to be resolved and certainty restored as soon as possible in the interests of the fans and all stakeholders (including players). In order to resolve the situation, CA has today proposed the following process to the ACA:

1. That CA and the ACA engage in intensive period of negotiation over the next few days in a final effort to reach sufficient agreement on the fundamental issues that would allow a HOA to be executed by early next week.

2. If that proves unachievable, CA proposes that the parties agree to take the outstanding issues to arbitration. CA would accept any outcome determined by that process in order to get the game back on track and the players back under contract.

3. Under this proposal, players would be re-contracted at the commencement of arbitration and remain contracted until the final MOU can be signed.

4. Any dispute issues that arise after the initial arbitration that are not able to be resolved by negotiation after a certain time period would also be arbitrated to ensure that the full MOU can be signed by an agreed target date.

In the absence of a negotiated agreement, an arbitration process would appear to be the only option available to the parties that would provide a certain end point to the dispute and restore certainty to the game. This now needs to be achieved as expeditiously as possible.

 

[Convict]

Question for [MENTION=132373]Convict[/MENTION]:

Why is the ACA saying that the Ashes could still be cancelled even if a deal is reached? That doesn't make sense to me.

Posturing to get CA to bend quicker.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Posturing to get CA to bend quicker.

seems to have worked as it looks CA wants this resolved one way or the other in the next week.

who's side are you on? i know a couple Zimbabwe fans think the ACA is being greedy here. i disagree...the players own the game, not the boards. players should be compensated highly.

 

[Convict]

seems to have worked as it looks CA wants this resolved one way or the other in the next week.

who's side are you on? i know a couple Zimbabwe fans think the ACA is being greedy here. i disagree...the players own the game, not the boards. players should be compensated highly.

Both have points and need to negotiate a bit.

 

[A.A.Z]

Clarke backs CA's arbitration proposal

Former skipper says players "cannot afford to miss one game of cricket if we want to beat England in the Ashes"
Former Australia Test captain Michael Clarke has urged the nation's professional cricketers to engage in an arbitration process if agreement on a new Memorandum of Understanding is not struck in the next few days. As meetings between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association continued today in a bid to break the crippling impasse, Clarke claimed the players who became unemployed when the previous MOU lapsed on June 30 must get back on the field as a matter of urgency. He said the current ICC world rankings that showed the Australia women's team, despite being bundled out in the semi-finals of the recent World Cup in England, is the only Australian outfit to be ranked number one in any format of the game. Consequently, Clarke has deemed that the players' union would be "silly" to reject the prospect of arbitration to deliver an outcome if an in-principle agreement on terms for a new MOU can't be reached in coming days.

Arbitration has been proposed by CA as a means by which players could be re-contracted even if a heads of agreement on a new MOU is not finalised this week, but the ACA sent an email to players yesterday outlining its concerns that arbitration might be a lengthy and expensive process. "As a (former) player, I'm saying if a deal's not done by Monday afternoon allow it go to arbitration because we need this finalised," Clarke told Channel Nine's Sports Sunday program today. "I believe this is definitely going to arbitration, and I think the ACA would be silly to say no to it. "The players can't say no, the players have got to say yes because they’ve got to play.

"This (Australia men's) team cannot afford to miss one game of cricket if we want to beat England in the Ashes. "We need to go to Bangladesh (next month), we need to go to India for the ODIs (in October), and then we need to play our best cricket to beat England in Australia, which I believe we will if we've played some cricket together as a team. "The players are not CEO of a business or general manager of a business. That's not their responsibility. "This needs to be done between CA and the players' association, and the players need to do what (they) know best and that's to play this game we love."

CA Chief Executive James Sutherland announced last Thursday that he hoped a period of "intensive negotiations" over the weekend and tomorrow – meetings in which he has met directly with his ACA counterpart Alistair Nicholson – would see a deal in the nine-month dispute brokered. However, if that was not the case he proposed that the outstanding matters that could not be agreed upon are sent to a mutually agreed, independent arbiter with a tight deadline placed on achieving a ruling, and with CA pledging to accept "the umpire's decision" to end the stalemate. Once arbitration was agreed to, the 230 cricketers currently unemployed and unpaid would immediately be able to sign interim contracts under the terms of the previous MOU (men's players) or the new agreement that was detailed by CA last March (for women). Sutherland also claimed that the most recent proposal put forward by the ACA revealed its desire to have a direct say in how CA invested money in grassroots cricket, a move that CA strongly opposes.

The players' union has denied it wants to take on a role as a de-factor administrator, but believes the players "were right to seek improved consultation" in matters related directly to the game while echoing CA's hopes that a deal can be reached through the ongoing intensive discussions. Clarke said that as former Australia player and captain 47 Tests and 74 one-day internationals, his sympathies tended towards the playing group that includes a number of his former teammates but he also had an appreciation for CA's position. He pointed out that cricket has established itself as the best paid team sport in Australia, and that the impact of the ongoing dispute was no longer quarantined to Australia. Clarke claimed it was now damaging cricket in nations unable to fulfil playing obligations such as South Africa (where an Australia A tour was scheduled for July, then boycotted), and potentially Bangladesh where players have resolved they will refuse to tour as planned next month unless a new MOU is in place. Clarke said that regardless of the ideological views on either side, the matter should be played out behind closed doors and claimed that if players were to engage in the debate through social media channels that dialogue should come from his successor as skipper, Steve Smith. "If the players are going to be involved, as they have been on social media, it needs to be led from Steve Smith the captain," Clarke said. "As a player, I never felt like I was a partner in the business. "I never went to James Sutherland and had a conversation about where we were spending the (money). "I thought my job and my responsibility as a player was to do my job as captain, help the team have success on the field and then you share in the wealth. "I always saw my role as an (employee) to Cricket Australia. "They pay me to play cricket for Australia. "But I think what the revenue share model does is allow the players' association, not necessarily the individual player, to have that conversation with Cricket Australia and discuss where this business is going."

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/mich...-australia-aca-players-association/2017-07-30

 

[Specialisttailender]

Thanks Australia, our players are liking it.

 

[hadi123]

Cricket Australia (CA) is on the verge of an agreement with the players' union to end the long impasse over a new pay deal and avoid the need for arbitration, local media reported on Monday.

Australia's top 230 players have effectively been unemployed since the last five-year agreement expired on June 30 and an 'A' tour of South Africa has already fallen victim to the lockout.

With a two-test tour of Bangladesh looming and the Ashes coming up at the end of the year, the parties were involved in lengthy talks over the weekend to broker a deal to end the acrimonious dispute.

Neither party made any comment on Monday but News Limited outlets heralded an imminent resolution under the headline "Aussie cricket on brink of peace", while Fairfax Media reported that a "heads of agreement" deal was close to being struck.

CA chief James Sutherland proposed taking the matter to binding arbitration if a deal was not struck by early this week.

http://www.firstpost.com/firstcrick...layers-association-claim-reports-3877097.html

 

[hadi123]

Australian cricket's interminable pay talks were still on the edge on Tuesday night as negotiating parties from both sides went back and forth on key terms for a new pay deal.

Nothing has been signed despite widespread speculation Cricket Australia and the players union were due to hold a joint press conference on Wednesday to announce an end to the pay war.

Sources have told Fairfax Media CA were trying to change the definition of revenue sharing, which was not received well by the Australian Cricketers Association.

CA has relaxed its threat for the issue to go to arbitration but that remains an option should satisfactory progress not be made on Wednesday on outstanding points of difference.

This has been met with scepticism from the ACA which believes sufficient progress is being made to avoid the already protracted saga heading to a third party and being prolonged.

Relations between both sides remain frosty with negotiations being conducted amid a climate of mistrust.


Players have successfully argued that adjustment ledger funds of $29.5 million from the current memorandum of understanding be paid now and not carried forward, and for back pay to be awarded to the 200-plus players who have been unemployed since July 1.

It's understood players will be given a 30 per cent share of revenue, up from a sliding scale of 27, though they are now absorbing 120 more female players who are entering the new agreement.


CA sources, however, believe this will be a serious modified agreement that gives the governing body flexibility to allow them to invest more into grass roots cricket and have gender equity pay.

It's believed match expenses and the money CA spends on its integrity unit are among streams of revenue that have been excised.

The ACA executive met on Tuesday morning and, happy with the deal, were waiting for CA to sign off.

The latest stumbling block continues the frustration of recent weeks where both sides had believed genuine breakthroughs were being made only to be blind sided by the other party.

However, progress has been expedited since CA chief James Sutherland officially came to the negotiating table.

Players believe he has taken a conciliatory tone in discussions but has met stumbling blocks from the CA board.

Time is running out to reach an agreement which would allow the two-Test series in Bangladesh to be saved. Players are due to head into camp in Darwin next week.

Cricket faces a major battle in the coming months to mend relationships between players and board, which many believe to be at its lowest points since World Series Cricket.

Questions are already being asked which of the major protagonists in this costly saga will be able to keep their posts in order for bridges to be rebuilt.

There are also recriminations at state level with many players believing senior administrators have been overly vocal and aggressive during the impasse.

The pay war has also cast doubt on CA's chief negotiator Kevin Roberts' ability to succeed Sutherland in the top job as it has fractured his relationship with players.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson said "progress is being made with the ACA but we will not comment on details of the negotiation, nor will we enter into any media speculation on the negotiation".


http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-pay-dispute-on-the-edge-20170801-gxmt64.html

 

[Abdullah719]

No tours without MOU deal: Smith

Australia captain Steve Smith has reaffirmed tonight that the Test outfit he leads won't agree to take part in this month's scheduled tour to Bangladesh unless an agreement on a new Memorandum of Understanding is signed.

Negotiations between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association continued today and both parties indicated progress continued to be made, but no resolution has been reached despite media reports yesterday that a deal was imminent.

CA Chief Executive James Sutherland proposed last Thursday that if agreement on the new MOU, which was due to come into effect on July 1 could not be reached this week then the unresolved items would be sent to independent and expeditious arbitration to achieve a binding ruling.

If the ACA agreed to the arbitration process, then the 230 or so players who have been unemployed and therefore unpaid since July 1 could immediately be re-contracted which would enable them to return to playing and the two-Test Bangladesh series to go ahead as planned, Sutherland said.

However, speaking on Fox Sports' 'Back Page Live' program tonight, Smith confirmed that players would not agree to take part in the three-week tour to Bangladesh, where Australia has not toured for Test matches since 2006, if a signed MOU was not in place.

Smith expressed admiration for the members of the Australia A men's team who voted last month to boycott their scheduled tour to South Africa, in line with an ACA resolution that none of the nation's 300 or so professional players would take part in matches organised by CA until a new MOU was agreed upon.

He said the Australia A players had shown "some real courage and leadership" by foregoing an opportunity to push their future Test and ODI credentials in South Africa, and claimed it would be unfair on them if the Test players then opted to tour Bangladesh in the absence of an MOU.

"I'd like to, but as we've said for a long time we need to get the deal done first," Smith said when asked if he expected the Bangladesh series to go ahead.

"I don't think it would be fair for us to go away after the (Australia) A guys were very strong on not going away on their tour, for us to then go away I don't think that's fair.

"CA know this, they've been told this.

"I told (CA's Executive General Manager Team Performance) Pat Howard personally that this was how things were going to be if there wasn't a deal done."

Smith said he remained hopeful a resolution could be found soon and noted that "some key elements" in the negotiations were yet to be finalised.

But he added that "some really good progress" had been made in recent days and he – along with his teammates – was looking forward to returning to the playing field as soon as possible.

He also acknowledged he has been required to walk a fine line between the players' union and CA throughout the protracted industrial dispute which began late last year.

Smith said he has been in regular contact with members of both parties' negotiating teams to act as a go-between, while continuing to pledge his support to the ACA and their commitment to maintaining the revenue share model of payment to players which remains central to the stalemate.

He claimed his position as Test and ODI captain, and the close relationship with the administrative body which that job entails, means he's been compelled to take a more conciliatory approach than some of his fellow players who have maintained a vocal presence on social media.

"It's had some difficult moments," Smith said tonight.

"When this is all over with, I have to deal with Pat Howard, I have to deal with the (CA) Board and speak to James Sutherland so I have to be careful with what sort of lines I tread.

"Some guys have been really vocal on social media and I think the way for me to lead in this dispute is to be able to talk to guys behind the scenes that are at the table and doing the job.

"Talking to the two parties and trying to figure out what each of them want and the best way forward.

"I've been talking to Alistair (Nicholson, ACA Chief Executive) and Pat Howard on the phone most days so it's been a long process and hopefully it comes to a close soon."

Smith said he would have preferred for the dispute to have been played out behind closed doors rather than in the very public form it has taken, but claimed that despite some of the rancour it has produced he did not believe that relationships would be permanently damaged once a deal was reached.

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/stev...nicholson-sutherland-agreement-mou/2017-08-01

 

[Gilly]

Thanks Australia, our players are liking it.

Your players must be english then.

 

[KhalidRafi]

I'm sure Smith and his team are feeling the intensity of this entire situation from their beach houses and hotel rooms...

 

[Specialisttailender]

Your players must be english then.

India tour of South Africa A

 

[Convict]

I'm sure Smith and his team are feeling the intensity of this entire situation from their beach houses and hotel rooms...

View attachment 75689

Well the whole strike isn't about the international players.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

Both party should compromise and agree at a point.

 

[Junaids]

CA and ACA agree terms to finally end player pay dispute

I'm here in Melbourne, and it's resolved.

Key public points:

1. Players prevail on revenue sharing, but share reduced on basis that Cricket Australia has lost image and advertising rights to the cricketers' own company.

2. No public details of other concessions on either side.

3. Cricket Australia accepts that players cannot be individually contracted, and that future bargaining to be conducted with ACA as the players' unanimously nominated collective bargaining agent.

 

[Junaids]

It's a very sad day all round.

The atmosphere is funereal - literally everyone has lost out as a result of Cricket Australia's David Peever trying to turn a partnership into an adversarial industrial relations dispute.

The original post in this thread - where I linked earlier Cricket Australia attempts to contractually ban key players from IPL - has now gone the other way.

There is now a group of angry players who don't trust their employer. And rather like a film star's agent, the "talent" employs the manager, rather than being an employee of a boss.

I think everyone here knows that now Dave Warner and Mitchell Starc are available at the right price to exit international cricket. Peever is staying at Cricket Australia for now, and as long as he remains, every player has a price.

If the IPL can afford them, they could have a year round IPL now.

 

[Convict]

It's a very sad day all round.

The atmosphere is funereal - literally everyone has lost out as a result of Cricket Australia's David Peever trying to turn a partnership into an adversarial industrial relations dispute.

The original post in this thread - where I linked earlier Cricket Australia attempts to contractually ban key players from IPL - has now gone the other way.

There is now a group of angry players who don't trust their employer. And rather like a film star's agent, the "talent" employs the manager, rather than being an employee of a boss.

I think everyone here knows that now Dave Warner and Mitchell Starc are available at the right price to exit international cricket. Peever is staying at Cricket Australia for now, and as long as he remains, every player has a price.

If the IPL can afford them, they could have a year round IPL now.

Where do you even drawn these whacko conclusions from?

 

[Junaids]

Where do you even drawn these whacko conclusions from?

I'm pretty sure that Warner will go the Chris Gayle route soon.

Starc will wait and see for now.

But if the BCCI had the vision to run IPL like Kerry Packer, and if they had the cash on hand, they could buy world cricket and do whatever they want.

Fortunately the only guy with the vision is Lalit Modi, and he hasn't got a financial backer.

 

[Convict]

I'm pretty sure that Warner will go the Chris Gayle route soon.

Starc will wait and see for now.

But if the BCCI had the vision to run IPL like Kerry Packer, and if they had the cash on hand, they could buy world cricket and do whatever they want.

Fortunately the only guy with the vision is Lalit Modi, and he hasn't got a financial backer.

All we know from this is that Starc is part of a union and when the union strikes he'll take part alongside the other 300 players striking.

The strike had absolutely nothing to do with wages for the international players or with IPL. You live in Australia, there is no excuse whatsoever for not knowing this.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Where do you even drawn these whacko conclusions from?

maybe joshila's constant propaganda won him over?

 

[Junaids]

I'm sure Smith and his team are feeling the intensity of this entire situation from their beach houses and hotel rooms...

View attachment 75689

I've had better holidays than that this year and I've got more to come.

Why shouldn't a man like Smith who is one of the world's top five batsmen - I'm not in the top five doctors in my family, let alone country - be paid commensurate to his excellence?

Good luck to him.

Try looking up "Tall Poppy Syndrome".

 

[Junaids]

All we know from this is that Starc is part of a union and when the union strikes he'll take part alongside the other 300 players striking.

The strike had absolutely nothing to do with wages for the international players or with IPL. You live in Australia, there is no excuse whatsoever for not knowing this.

What are you talking about?

I've made posts in this thread pointing out that this was the internationals staying staunch to domestic players - which they once were and might become again. Which their teammates are.

But you keep assuming that parties in an incendiary industrial conflict return to normal once it's resolved. And that's nonsense.

I can assure you that even Liberal Party loyalist doctors in Queensland - like me - wouldn't cross the road to micturate on Campbell Newman if he was on fire. He reneged on our contracts, trashed our contractual conditions and used the media to bash us as "overpaid and spoiled".

Just like Cricket Australia.

When you do what Peever did - declare war on players of all levels, let their contracts end, leave them unpaid for five weeks - you alienate them. You don't have to be a psychiatrist like me to work that out.

 

[Junaids]

All we know from this is that Starc is part of a union and when the union strikes he'll take part alongside the other 300 players striking.

The strike had absolutely nothing to do with wages for the international players or with IPL. You live in Australia, there is no excuse whatsoever for not knowing this.

That's grossly inaccurate too.

The players union has been the party making every offer to reach a resolution and every time the Cricket Australia CEO agreed, he went back to his Board and the two industrial zealots (from Rio Tinto and Qantas) refused to back him.

We have had the unholy spectacle of the (former) employees acting like grown ups while the employer throws his toys out of the cot like a baby.

This wasn't a strike. It was a lockout.

 

[Junaids]

Some staggering concessions half-hidden in the deal.

Cricket Australia to reduce its spending on itself by $25 million! Ouch!

Domestic Aussie men's players up from $270,000 to $313,000 per year.

Domestic women up from $40,000 to $88,000 - it's a viable career.

Cricket Australia for the first time paying for the international women's boyfriends and husbands to join them on tour.

Maternity and parenting leave to be paid for domestic and international women's players - which Cricket Australia had famously opposed two years ago.

Cricket Australia concedes control of all domestic and international scheduling to a committee with equal representation from the players.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

Some good news for world cricket.

 

[hadi123]

CA and ACA agree terms to finally end player pay dispute

MEDIA RELEASE
August 03, 2017
Cricket Australia Statement on the MOU

Cricket Australia has today agreed in principle to a Heads of Agreement with the Australian Cricketers' Association that resolves key issues and provides the basis for a full MOU for 2017-22


Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said 'the HOA is a welcome outcome of recent negotiations. It resolves the fundamental issues and provides a clear pathway towards a new MOU.'

'Importantly, it restores certainty to the game it allows CA to re-contract all players and for the important Bangladesh tour to proceed as planned.'

Mr Sutherland said that "both sides have compromised in order to reach agreement. The outcome reflects sensible change in the overall interests of the game."

"CA looks forward to working with the ACA over the next couple of weeks to finalise the new MOU."

Key features of the agreement include:

Player payments Pool (PPP) (all male and female player payments and programs apart from Performance Pool):
- A modernised revenue sharing formula achieved by developing a Player Payments Pool to a dollar value based on external market benchmarks, internal equity and financial viability, and forecast cricket revenues.
PPP of $459m (would be the equivalent of 27.5% assuming ACR of $1.67bn).

- Includes Player development program increased from $7m-14m

Performance Pool (PP):
- Continues for the Australian men's team on similar terms to the last MOU and extended to include the Australian women's team.

Female player payments:
- Female player payments will increase from $7.5m to $55.2m

Adjustment ledger:
- if ACR exceeds $1.67bn, players receive 19% of the upside to $1.96bn ACR and grassroots cricket receives 8.5%. Above $1.96bn, male and female players receive 27.5%.

- The Adjustment Ledger from 2012-17 will be paid out.

Additional grassroots funding:
- Up to $30m that would otherwise have gone to the PPP under the old model.

 

[MMHS]

It was never in doubt, particularly in an Ashes year which AUS lost last time in U.K.. But great news that they could resolve it just in time for BD tour.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cricket!!! <a href="https://t.co/e7K7tosALm">pic.twitter.com/e7K7tosALm</a></p>— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gmaxi_32/status/893012350256652288">August 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Employed again!

 

[Hasan123]

Finally we can get back to cricket . Excellent news that this has been all sorted.