Players set to play the patience game
Getting a kick out of glory
ROBERT Whittaker won the UFC interim middleweight title yesterday, surging in the late rounds to earn a unanimous decision over Yoel Romero at UFC 213.
Whittaker (20-4) recovered from a hyperextended knee in the first round with a strong striking effort, peppering Romero (12-2) with punches and kicks over the final three rounds.
The Australian won his eighth consecutive fight, earning the victory 48-47 on all three judges’ scorecards at T-Mobile Arena. TEST captain Steve Smith says Australia’s unemployed cricketers are prepared for a long fight and won’t buckle in a standoff with Cricket Australia growing uglier by the day.
Smith has been criticised in corners for his relative absence from the front lines of the biggest issue in Australian cricket which has left around 230 national and state cricketers unemployed for over a week.
After playing almost nonstop from last October through to the Champions Trophy exit last month, the national captain has been on a long overdue holiday in Europe and the US, where he also got engaged to long-time girlfriend Dani Wills.
Smith has maintained contact with the ACA throughout, and even dialled in via video link to the historic players meeting in Sydney last Sunday where the players turned up the pressure on CA to open the door to mediation over the next Memorandum of Understanding.
It was revealed yesterday that the ACA’s general manager Tim Cruickshank was flying to India this week to sell image rights of Australian cricketers to would-be sponsors in India.
Smith and Test teammates David Warner, Mitchell Starc and even Glenn Maxwell are massive names on the cashedup subcontinent and the ACA, which has lost $4 million in annual funding, now has control of their image rights.
Any money raised would go to funding unemployed domestic male and female players through what looms as a lengthy stand-off and Smith said despite efforts to break them the players would stay united, for as long it takes.
“I’ll say what we as players have been saying for some time now: we are not giving up the revenue sharing model for all players,” Smith wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
“But, through the ACA we are willing to make important changes to modernise the existing model for the good of the game.
“We are and have always been willing to make those changes.
“We are determined to keep revenue sharing for all because we must take care of domestic players in Australia.
“I know from my career that when I was dropped in 2011 if I didn’t have a strong domestic competition to go back to, I certainly wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in today.
“State players need to be taken care of financially so the domestic competition will always be strong which in turn keeps us strong at the International level.”
And Smith said the male players were fully supportive of their female colleagues who also deserved to share in the revenue they helped create for CA.
“They must have the same chances and incentives to grow the game as the men have had since revenue sharing started,” Smith said.
“It’s time to get a deal done. It should be and can be an exciting time for the game.”