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Former national captains Mark Taylor and Adam Gilchrist say cricketers will take some form of pay cut as COVID-19 uncertainty clouds the next summer.
Adam Gilchrist has forecast a dramatic winding back of player salaries and the overall cricket economy, while Mark Taylor believes pay cuts are inevitable for Australian stars amid great financial uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Kevin Roberts has stood down the vast majority of his staff on 20 per cent pay for the rest of the financial year.
Other sporting organisations have announced similar measures, but the extent of CA's belt-tightening came as a shock to some staff and players given the 2019-20 season was hardly affected by the coronavirus.
The health crisis has however cast doubt over the coming summer's Twenty20 World Cup and a lucrative Test series against India, the latter believed to be worth approximately $300 million in broadcast revenue.
Former captain Gilchrist predicted "ongoing and long-standing consequences" for cricket, arguing sport on the whole had lost perspective and this juncture could have a "cleansing effect".
"Without being aware of any numbers and the financial side of it, I wouldn't be surprised if we go back a decade or two to the level of payment that players get. Even maybe further for a while," Gilchrist told ABC Grandstand on Sunday.
"It's going to get stripped back, right back.
"Support staff numbers have to get dragged back.
"The revenue is going to go down significantly, 50 per cent they (CA) are banking on at the moment and that's an optimistic position I believe. The players will take a whack."
Some support staff were among those stood down on Friday, while national head coaches Justin Langer and Matthew Mott have become part-time employees.
Taylor, a former long-term CA director who stood down in 2018 as the sport threatened to tear itself apart after an independent cultural review, suggested there is "no doubt" players will take a cut.
"There will be haircuts, as we've seen from CA staff. Players will be next," Taylor said on the Nine Network.
Roberts, who played a key role in the bitter pay dispute of 2017 as CA's head negotiator before replacing James Sutherland as chief executive of the governing body in 2018, must now ramp up discussions with players.
Players, who only recently started their mandated leave period, have made it clear they will share the financial pain but CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) are yet to map out exactly what that entails.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dictates that CA must submit its list of national contracts for 2020-21 and provide revenue estimates by April 30 at the latest.
Any attempt to tinker with that MoU or adjust either deadline will require much negotiation between Roberts and ACA counterpart Alistair Nicholson, who remain on notably better terms than three years ago.
"I hope they get their heads together and sort out a good solution," Taylor said.
"Cricket Australia are trying to be proactive and making a move early to hopefully save some pain later on ... nobody has a crystal ball to work out when and how much this will affect cricket."
