Australia head coach Darren Lehmann is confident that the ongoing pay dispute between Cricket Australia (CA) and the players would not lead to an Ashes boycott by the players.
The Australian cricket board is seeking to replace the existing revenue-sharing model with new contracts which would end players’ entitlement to a fixed percentage of revenue – a move that has left senior players unimpressed. The tensions between the board and the players only escalated after CA chief executive James Sutherland, last week, threatened the players that they would not be paid beyond June 30 unless they accepted the governing body’s proposed overhaul of player remuneration.
Amid all the uncertainty surrounding the pay structure, the players threatened to go on a strike. Opening batsman David Warner even went as far as saying that the Australian board might not have a team for the Ashes.
“If it gets to the extreme they might not have a team for the Ashes,” the Ashes-winning batsman had said.
However, Lehmann feels that the players’ strike will not take place and hoped to see both the parties reaching an agreement soon.
“No, I wouldn’t think so (that a strike will happen),” Lehmann said on Thursday (May 18). “And I’d hope not as a fan. I’m sure that won’t happen.”
“It always stays quite late in the negotiations – it happened last time and the time before that,” he added. “You have those issues. Every sport has them, to be perfectly honest – there are sports around Australia having them now. There’s no panic, it’s just about the two parties getting together.”
Lehmann is currently eyeing the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy and has said that he has planned to address the issue to the entire squad ahead of the 50-over tournament which starts on June 1 in England.
“You have to do that. You have to keep it open and communication so we know what direction everyone’s going,” he said. “It is going to be a bit of a distraction, there’s no doubt about that. Just getting together and working it out is the way to go.”
The former Australia cricketer said he had been in constant contact with captain Steve Smith, who is currently plying his trade in the Indian Premier League. Lehmann revealed that Smith, who has led Rising Pune Supergiant to their maiden Indian Premier League final, is keen to join the national squad.
“We’ve spoken quite a lot, on many issues at the moment,” he said. “He’s really looking forward to getting the lads back together. There’s been a lot of emails and text messages around the place.
“He is (in good spirits). He’s been there for four months and hasn’t been home. But he’s ready to go,” he added.