Skipper Steven Smith Delighted After The Settlement Of The Pay - Dispute 1
Steven Smith. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Australian skipper Steven Smith has expressed his gratitude to Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) for all the support they extended during recently resolved pay – dispute with Cricket Australia (CA).

“Great to get a deal done! It’s been a long and challenging process and it’s great that we can now get on with playing the game that we all love. I’d like to thank the ACA for negotiating on behalf of the players and I’m excited that we can all start working together again to continue to grow our great game. I look forward to Bangladesh, India and an exciting summer of Ashes cricket, Smith wrote on Twitter.”

Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have reached settlement stressful negotiations over the past few months. Earlier, the cricketers had threatened to boycott the series against Bangladesh and India as a protest to make Cricket Australia negotiate a better deal. Things became more troublesome after there were indications that the Ashes series at home later this year may also face a boycott.

The issue was in a stalemate position as ACA and CA failed to reach a settlement. CA demanded to do away with the revenue sharing model to divert more funds into grass root cricket. However, ACA opposed the move as removal of the existing revenue model would have meant that the domestic names could have ended up with fewer salaries.

The cricketers supported the ACA in the entire controversy which has now eventually led to the fulfilment of their demands.

CA CEO James Sutherland said the parties had reached an in-principle agreement on “the core issues” of the deal. IN a significant move, the revenue sharing model, which was the matter of dispute, will remain in act.