The worst fears surrounding the Australian cricketing fraternity came true as no truce came to fruition between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australia Cricketers Association (ACA) till the deadline of the midnight of 1st July. This means that at present and as of this moment, all Australian cricketers are currently unemployed, with their contracts being expired. With CA making no attempt to negotiate with the top brass of players including Steven Smith and David Warner, all future operations of the side now lie in jeopardy.
One member of that Australian setup, however, feels different and is happy to be “employed” is limited overs opener Aaron Finch. Finch, who himself doesn’t have a central contract feels grateful to the fact that he at least has a source of employment in the form of Natwest T20 Blast outfit Surrey.
Finch currently gears up to take part in England’s annual T20 festival and will turn up for a star-studded Surrey outfit, also featuring England opener Jason Roy and former England star Kevin Pietersen. In a tweet made by Finch, the Australian expressed his delight of being employed.
I'm just happy to be employed!! https://t.co/lprFUbDN7R
— Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) June 30, 2017
Speaking about the same matter, was Finch’s teammate and Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood. The pacer admitted that it was disappointing to see the situation reach such a point. “To be contracted for the best part of 10 years, nearly, for me, it’s going to be a different stage and we’ll see how it pans out,” Hazlewood said. “It never got to this point before in the past. It’s going to leave a bit of a bitter taste come that date but we are, obviously, willing to do what we need to.”
“They always seem to point out the no crowds at Sheffield Shield cricket but they always leave out the Big Bash that draws in massive crowds every game,” he said. “The Australian cricket team isn’t really a part of that, to be honest. It’s solely domestic players with a couple of internationals in different teams. But they provide a great spectacle. That six-weeks is just thriving with crowds. I think they would feel disrespected, definitely.”