NO DEAL MEANS NO PAY

Australia warn players over salary dispute

CRICKET Australia has sent a formal letter to warring players officially informing them they will be unemployed if a deal is not reached this week in their protracted pay dispute.

Amid reports that Australia’s cricketers will decide this weekend whether their image rights are sold offshore, CA high performance manager Pat Howard has warned they must seek permission to play in other Twenty20 leagues.

Months of bitter negotiations are coming to a head before the current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expires today with players to be unemployed if there is no resolution.

Coming tours to Bangladesh and India are also at risk along with England’s showpiece Ashes tour to Australia later in the year.

With the increasing likelihood of no agreement, media are reporting that some players will seek employment in foreign T20 leagues if they are left without a contract.

CA has warned players that if they sign with competing sponsors they will not be offered new contracts, The Australian newspaper said.

The more than 200 players who will be out of contract were informed that they would not be expected to train or play and that they would not be paid for that period even when a new contract was signed, the CA email said.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association has been staunchly opposed to CA’s plan to modify the existing MOU that provides a flat share of revenue for the players.

In the latest CA correspondence, Howard told the players: “If your contract expires on 30 June, you will not be an employee of CA, a State Association or a W/BBL Team from 1 July.

The players have established ‘The Cricketers Brand’ in anticipation of a lockout but CA warned them they need to be careful about new sponsors.

“All players will be provided with a list of protected sponsors for 2017/18,” Howard wrote.

“Any player entering into unapproved endorsements during any uncontracted period puts at risk future endorsement arrangements with CA, State and W/BBL partners,” and “puts you at risk of not being able to enter into a contract for the upcoming season with CA, the State or W/BBL Team.”

The players’ union told Fairfax Media that they had had inquiries from India about sponsoring a collective of Australia’s most high-profile players should the pay dispute not be resolved by Friday. AFP