Anger is building among Australian cricketers as the departure date for a Test tour of Bangladesh ticks closer and pay talks continue to progress ever so slowly.
Negotiations between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) continued on Monday.
The previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expired at the end of the financial year, at which point some 230 cricketers became unemployed.
This month’s Australia A tour was cancelled because of the impasse. The next deadline in the saga is August 18, when Steve Smith’s side are due to depart for a two-Test tour of Bangladesh.
If the governing body and players’ union haven’t made genuine progress then the trip won’t go ahead.
“Not sure the players can do much more to solve the dispute. We’re really proud to offer up to an extra $30 million for grassroots,” vice-captain David Warner posted on Twitter, referencing the terms sheet that the union sent to CA last week.
Paceman Pat Cummins tweeted that “players are as frustrated as anyone else. We want to play. Offering even more to grassroots to get a deal!!!”.
Coaches, officials, selectors, sponsors, fans and other stakeholders are becoming increasingly incensed by the standoff.
Cummins, Warner and other members of the Test squad are set to assemble in Darwin for a training camp that starts on August 10.
Bakkies
Guest
How could the Cricketers make an offer when the ACB wouldn't come to the table and the CEO wasn't in the country before the deadline expired?
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Cricket in Australia is between the players and the punters. No one give a tinkers cuss about glorified admin officers. Seems like CA are on some sort of power trip. Meanwhile poor old Bangers. If CA are corporate gurus then they should realise it's extremely bad business to burn new partner Bangers and old partner India let alone the damage an abandoned ashes series would do.
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
Some Australian security experts are here in Bangladesh right now to observe the security facilities .. So the series is not officially dead yet.
davros
Guest
quite simply Peever and roberts and a couple of others need to go ...untill then this hard head ego maniac anti union zealout will continue to play hard ball ...he obviously does not care about the dammage he is doing ...its all about him ,Peeever as it is with most psychpaths !
ches
Guest
Yeah it is different, but to produce another 30 Million out of the blue for grassroots to make themselves look good in the ongoing & ever dirtier propaganda war is really (no pun intended) rich. If they really cared beyond their own bottom line that would have been their offer from day 1. If it is a true good deed where you give something and expect nothing in return you would not publish it to make yourself look good. Both sides reek in this.
Bakkies
Guest
The ACB contracted players have declined proposed pay rises from the board this is what makes this situation unique to other financial disputes in Australian Cricket
Bakkies
Guest
'Personally I thought it was already a danger series with how improved they are at home and our frailties on the sub continent.' a much needed series after the Sri Lankan fiasco and coughing up a series lead against Indian team that was on the ropes.
ches
Guest
Cummins now saying "Offering even more to grassroots to get a deal!!!" You gotta be kidding. If they were so generous and were the "Good Guys" from the start they would have offered all of that to Grassroots from the beginning. And only doing it to make a deal? The leopard has now publicly shown its spots. Only a stupid cannot see the players are greedy "all about money people", have a lot more to negotiate and only did this to get the public on their side by playing the "victim mentality" game. Mind you CA's performance in this has also been deplorable. There are no Good Guys here. Both sides don't care about you or your right to see your game. That only counts if they all (both sides) get paid more than what they are worth
The Fatman
Guest
Neither of my boys want to play cricket any more. Cricket's name now is mud in our community. congratulations CA. you have killed the golden goose.
Rossy
Roar Rookie
Completely agree with your bottom sentiment on the dispute and also re Bangladesh. How many times are we going to somehow get out of going? Personally I thought it was already a danger series with how improved they are at home and our frailties on the sub continent. Now with this dispute and lack of preparation it's shaping as a real danger series.
Hugh Grant
Guest
Someone from the Fed Government needs to step in - where's the sports minister to sort this out - it could be the end of cricket as we now it- it's getting past the ridiculous this standoff.
Paul D
Roar Guru
If Australian cricket blows off yet another tour to Bangas but the Ashes goes ahead our name will be absolute mud in the subcontinent. Going to get to the stage where the cricketers will be wanting the tour in 2021 called off because they're worried about the adverse reaction they're going to get from cancelling the previous 2, 3 tours or however long it's been. Over 10 years since we went there I think. I recall Ponting making what Cricinfo called an 'over my dead body' 4th innings century to win a test match in 2006 and I think that was the last time we went. Anyways I haven't really bothered to follow this because it's all bollocks and baloney until someone signs on the dotted line. Sort it out you nobs.
AREH
Roar Guru
For planning and preparation sake you'd want to hope a resolution is reached probably at least a week prior to August 18. ...and I can't say I'm overly confident sadly