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Hope builds for cricket pay breakthrough

3 minute read

Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings and players' union counterpart Greg Dyer have discussed the need to work collaboratively amid fears of a pay stoush.

KEVIN ROBERTS
KEVIN ROBERTS Picture: AAP Image

Hope is growing within Australian cricket circles of an end to the pay impasse after productive talks between Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings and his players' association counterpart Greg Dyer.

CA has stood down the vast majority of its staff for the rest of the financial year, citing uncertainty created by COVID-19, and is in talks with the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) regarding players' pay.

AAP understands Eddings and Dyer spoke on Friday, cooling tensions that started to bubble after CA chief executive Kevin Roberts stunned staff with last week's stand down.

Eddings and Dyer essentially agreed a collaborative approach was important at such a critical time for the sport, discussing a series of options regarding next summer.

CA is yet to provide a comprehensive summary of financial data to the players' union, but that is expected to happen soon.

State associations, having pushed back in response to Roberts seeking to cut their distributions by 45 per cent, will be sent the same data that prompted Roberts to take drastic action.

National contracts are expected to be announced next week.

CA is believed to have unsuccessfully argued for player pay cuts of 25 per cent after projecting revenue to fall by 50 per cent in the coming summer.

Roberts insisted cost-cutting measures were prudent and necessary because of the health crisis, but some players felt he created a level of anxiety that wasn't necessary so far out from the start of the season.

There were fears the sport's financial woes could spark another unedifying public spat similar to 2017, when Roberts was CA's chief negotiator and unsuccessfully argued for an end to players' revenue-sharing model.

Roberts has irked the ACA by once again contacting senior players directly and failing to open CA's books in the manner they requested.

Former CA chief executive James Sutherland took charge of stalled pay talks in 2017, when Roberts and ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson butted heads.

Roberts succeeded Sutherland the following year, outlining his desire for an improved relationship with players.

The former NSW batsman worked hard on that goal, but it was notable that Eddings delivered the potential circuit-breaker in talks with the ACA.

Negotiations could yet be derailed before the deadline of April 30, when CA is obliged to provide the ACA with a list of 2020-21 national contracts plus revenue estimates.

However, Friday delivered the most promising signs yet that the two parties may be able to resolve the stand-off without the sort of bitterness that enveloped the most recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) negotiation.

"The ACA are doing the best that they can to get all the information they can out of Cricket Australia," Australia batter Beth Mooney said.

"And Cricket Australia are being a lot more collaborative (compared to 2017).

"Conversations I know ... are happening from board to board in the last few weeks and will continue to happen throughout the crisis."

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