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Australian Cricketers' Association delegate Peter Handscomb says players are worried about their future as they wait for Cricket Australia to open its books.
Concerned cricketers are "asking a lot of questions" as they and the players' union continue to wait for Cricket Australia to open its books.
CA chief executive Kevin Roberts, worried about looming financial damage from COVID-19, stood down the vast majority of his staff for the rest of the financial year as part of a $20 million cost-cutting mission.
Roberts is now in the next phase of belt-tightening, attempting to negotiate lower distributions to state associations plus some "creative solutions" to player pay.
Neither is proving easy, but the latter looms as particularly challenging.
The boards of the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) and CA are expected to meet on Friday, although that may be dependent on the governing body sharing the financial data that prompted Roberts to take such extreme action.
Peter Handscomb, who is Victoria's ACA delegate and as such responsible for keeping the squad informed at times like this, admitted teammates are "just unsure".
"They don't know exactly what's going on, they're asking a lot of questions," Handscomb told reporters on a video conference call.
"There's concern for the fact it's an unprecedented time with this pandemic. Players don't know, I'm sure it's tough from CA's point of view ... it's a lot of unknown at the moment. Which can be scary for everyone.
"I'm trying to help out with a few answers, but pretty much I have to get them to call the ACA as well.
"We trust the ACA and what they're going to do for us, and they're the ones who know more than I do."
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dictates that CA must, by April 30, provide the ACA with a list of national contracts plus revenue estimates for 2020-21.
"We're sitting and waiting to see if there's any more information out of CA. When that does come we can try and help solve any problems," Handscomb said.
"The deadline's there, I'm sure CA will get the appropriate information to the right people at the right time.
"There are other things in place before we get to players' pay cut, the revenue-share model and a few other ones."
The ACA and stars memorably fought desperately hard in 2017, when Roberts was CA's chief negotiator during an acrimonious pay dispute, to retain a revenue-share model.
Players, who pocket 55 cents for every $2 that CA rakes in, are ready to take a cut and their wages will dip when times are tough as per the MoU.
The ACA has also proposed a percentage-based retainer option, while Roberts has hinted at further cuts beyond that and urged players to "come with" him.
