Odds of cricket strike shorten
THE first player strike in Australian cricket history looms large after limited talks yesterday failed to move the pay war closer to resolution.
As the stark reality of cricket’s ugly mess comes in to immediate view, only a flurry of activity today can avoid 230 Australian cricketers, male and female, falling out of contract.
Cricket Australia has issued an edict that the behaviour of those players while uncontracted, including playing in unsanctioned matches or signing unapproved endorsement deals, could have severe consequences, including six-month bans.
They are effectively free agents when the current Memorandum of Understanding expires tonight and that would almost certainly rule some players, including Test stars Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja, out of Australia A’s tour of South Africa next month.
Temporary “unpaid” contracts to tour for free, which would have been rejected, were never formally tabled.
But for another 70 players governed by multi-year state contracts rather than national deals, failure to continue to train or be available to play as required would constitute a strike, as CA has told them they would continue to be paid under the terms of their deals.
For 11 of them, including would-be Test players Ashton Agar and Hilton Cartwright, that call to strike will be immediate
TENNIS because they are in the “A” squad and required to leave for South Africa next Friday.
A meeting in Sydney on Sunday of the Australian Cricketers Association executive, which includes Aaron Finch and Moises Henriques, will determine whether those 11 players boycott the tour.
The meeting looms as the first major test of the solidarity of the players, who have been resolute in their desire to keep the revenue-sharing model.
Striking is not guaranteed because some players want to go to South Africa to push their international claims as well as avoid a black mark.
The return of CA chief executive James Sutherland from overseas yesterday did not hasten a resolution.
Test stars Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon will turn out for a charity game in Mackay next Friday but that match has been approved by CA.
CYCLING