Ashes 2017, Tour of India In Jeopardy As Pay Dispute Between CA and ACA Stuck In A Deadlock

May 24, 2023 at 12:55 PM

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Ashes 2017, Tour of India In Jeopardy As Pay Dispute Between CA and ACA Stuck In A Deadlock

The Story:

The ongoing dispute between Cricket Australia (CA) and Australia Cricket Association (ACA) over the revenue model has caused a huge uproar. What seemed like a minor issue between the player’s association and Cricket Australia is now shaking the cricket fraternity entirely with other teams like India, Bangladesh and England are at risk of suffering.

It’s been over six months since the Cricket Australia proposed ‘revamped revenue model’ was rejected by ACA and the controversy kicked off. Several talks have been initiated but have only resulted in unfruitful results.

Warner, Starc And Others Could Be Unemployed:

The aftermath is very dangerous. The current player’s contract expires on 30th June following which the cricketers, about 230 players – including the Test team will be left without an annual contract from July 1. This directly means unemployment and a certain boycott of the upcoming tours.

The attention at the moment is on the Australia’s One-Day International (ODI) tour of India in October.

No Agreement For Now:

A last minute settlement looks next to impossible between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) ahead of Friday’s (June 30) deadline. James Sutherland, CA’s chief executive, has flown down to Melbourne on Thursday to make his involvement bigger in the issue but it seems that his last ditch effort might work.

The core of the issue is CA’s attempt to get rid of the existing revenue model that allows a certain piece of shares from the cricketing board’s per annum revenue. It was proposed that a fixed contract amount would be brought in effect from July 1. CA’s cited investments in grass root developmental activities as the reason for the proposed change.

However, the ACA has refused to agree with the new proposal. Thus, the dispute.

The Boycott Of The Ashes and The Tour Of India:

If the series, comprising five ODIs, does not go as scheduled, CA may face a torrid time handling the backlash from the cricketing community and most importantly BCCI.

“Cancelling the tour of India would be catastrophic for Australian cricket and cost CA a lot of money,” one source told Cricbuzz.

“CA would also have to deal with a backlash from the BCCI, so they will be putting every effort in getting a deal done before then.”

According to a report in News Corp, some players are advocating a boycott of next month’s ‘A’ tour of South Africa if a new pay deal is not done.

Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh in August is also in major jeopardy; not to mention the tweets from Mitchell Starc and David Warner that also hinted ‘No Ashes’ this year. It could be a serious blow to not only the tradition but also the reputation of Cricket Australia.

Also Read: (Mitchell Starc issues a statement on the current pay dispute)

(David Warner says players might skip Ashes if MoU not signed)

Talks On Intellectual Properties:

Meanwhile, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian cricketers will convene in Sydney on Sunday (July 2) to discuss their intellectual property rights.

Recently, the ‘Cricketers Group’ was founded in the association of the ACA to manage the sponsorships rights of the players. Pat Howard, CA high-performance manager said players would be “at risk of not being able to enter into a contract” if they had unapproved sponsors.

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