It’s the news Australian cricket fans have been crying out for in recent months, but it appears that Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association are moving closer to some sort of compromise.
ESPNCricinfo‘s Daniel Brettig is reporting that Cricket Australia has agreed to allow a revenue sharing model – albeit an updated version of the old system which will allow for a greater percentage of the game’s funds to be sent to cricket’s grassroots in the country – in the next Memorandum of Understanding.
The presence of a revenue sharing model has been the major sticking point between the two parties in the pay dispute that has seen the cancellation of one series – Australia’s ‘A’ tour of South Africa – and threatened to derail the upcoming Test tour of Bangladesh, limited-overs series in India and, most importantly, the 2017-18 home Ashes series against England.
The players have been adamant in their support for a revenue sharing model, with CA placed firmly in the opposite corner. However, that the game’s governing body seems willing to find a compromise with their counterparts is the clearest indication to date that a deal may be finalised soon.
The arrival of such good news comes as something of a surprise given the claims by the ACA that talks between the parties had hit another roadblock last Friday, and that players have threatened to boycott the tour of Bangladesh unless a new MOU was agreed upon.
Talks between CA CEO James Sutherland and his ACA counterpart Alistair Nicholson over the past couple of days have seemed to rescue the situation, and there have undoubtedly been positive signs in the past weeks.
Just the presence of Sutherland – who had been conspicuous by his absence from the pay talks prior to the June 30 deadline – at the negotiation table has certainly been a step in the right direction, as has the abolition of the controversial and archaic ‘pregnancy clause.’
Despite the good news, a complete resolution is still probably some way off. While revenue sharing has been the major barrier between the two sides, there are still a number of other issues to be sorted out.
However, with the deadline to save the Bangladesh tour fast approaching – the Test side is due to depart for the subcontinent on August 18 – it does finally seem that talks are heading in the right direction.
While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
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