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It’s the news cricket fans across Australia have been waiting for: the ugly pay dispute which has marred the sport this year has reached its end, with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association announcing an in-principle agreement this afternoon.
CA CEO James Sutherland and his ACA counterpart Alistair Nicholson have announced the completion of a Heads of Agreement document at a press conference at the MCG. That document will provide the framework for the next Memorandum of Understanding, which will span the next five years.
The agreement includes an updated form of revenue sharing which will see players take home 30 per cent of ‘agreed revenue’, which is expected to be somewhere in the vicinity of $500 million.
That revenue sharing agreement, the definition of which had threatened to derail talks this week despite earlier rumours of a resolution, includes all cricketers, female and male, domestic and international.
It marks the first time that Australia’s female cricketers have been included in the revenue sharing agreement since its introduction in the late 1990s.
The next MOU will see a significant investment in grassroots cricket. Sutherland said Cricket Australia will commit somewhere between $10 and $20 million more per year to the grassroots in comparison to the old deal, while Nicholson said the players’ expected contribution is somewhere between $25 and $30 million per year.
The agreement between the feuding parties means the 230 or so cricketers who have been unemployed since July 1 can now be contracted once again.
Players will be back paid for the past two months once the next MOU is signed.
The signing of the HOA allows the upcoming tour of Bangladesh and the following one to India later in the year to go ahead, and brings to an end the speculation that Australian cricket fans would be deprived of a home Ashes series, which is due to start in November.
It also means the dispute won’t be sent to a formal arbitration process, something Sutherland had called for if the two parties didn’t come to an agreement this week.
There are still a few minor hurdles to pass, notably a player vote in the next 24 hours on the proposal, although Nicholson said he expects that vote to “come back supportive”.
The inclusion of revenue sharing and back pay for the cricketers – both of which CA were previously set steadfastly against – is a major coup for the ACA and its players.
Main points of agreement between CA and the ACA
Player Payments Pool (PPP) (all male and female player payments and programs apart from Performance Pool):
– A modernised revenue sharing formula achieved by developing a Player Payments Pool to a dollar value based on external market benchmarks, internal equity and financial viability, and forecast cricket revenues.
PPP of $459m (would be the equivalent of 27.5% assuming ACR of $1.67bn).– Includes Player development program increased from $7m-14m
Performance Pool (PP):
– Continues for the Australian men’s team on similar terms to the last MOU and extended to include the Australian women’s team.Female player payments:
– Female player payments will increase from $7.5m to $55.2m.Adjustment ledger:
– If ACR exceeds $1.67bn, players receive 19% of the upside to $1.96bn ACR and grassroots cricket receives 8.5%. Above $1.96bn, male and female players receive 27.5%.– The Adjustment Ledger from 2012-17 will be paid out.
Additional grassroots funding:
– Up to $30m that would otherwise have gone to the PPP under the old model.