Aussie cricketers set to boycott tour

This month’s Australia A tour will almost certainly be the first casualty in cricket’s ugly pay war, while the union has hatched a left-field plan to ensure future tours and the Ashes proceed as planned.

Some 230 Australian cricketers joined the ranks of the unemployed on Saturday, when the previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expired.

Players, who are deadlocked with Cricket Australia (CA) regarding the issue of revenue sharing, held an emergency meeting in Sydney on Sunday.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) executive passed 14 resolutions, effectively agreeing to boycott this month’s Australia A series in South Africa unless there is a significant breakthrough in negotiations this week.

Australia A captain Usman Khawaja and his squad will assemble in Brisbane on Monday to train but the prospect of them flying out on Friday appears non-existent.

‘‘It’s not an easy thing to do ... but

"It's been a weird three months." Australia A captain Usman Khawaja

we are very united,’’ Khawaja said.

‘‘Hopefully something can be resolved, but if it’s not, it’s a tough decision that sort of has to be made.

‘‘Not to go is a sacrifice in some respects but we see the broader picture.’’

The ACA also passed a resolution in terms of next month’s test series in Bangladesh, the ensuing ODI tour of India and this summer’s Ashes.

In the absence of a new MoU, cricketers have discussed the prospect of the union taking control of their playing rights and selling them to CA.

‘‘The venues are all booked. The schedule is there. It’s just a different way to get the players playing cricket,’’ ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson said. ‘‘An agreed MoU remains the clear preference.’’

There was a school of thought CA would turn to domestic players on multi-year deals to replace the likes of Khawaja in the Australia A squad, but that won’t be happening according to the ACA.

‘‘Our legal advice is they can’t be compelled to tour legally, because they’ve got an ability to refuse a tour contract and they’re not breaching a state contract,’’ Nicholson said.

‘‘There would need to be a significant breakthrough on the key issue of the revenue-sharing model [for the Australia A tour to proceed].’’

Nicholson reiterated calls for CA chief executive James Sutherland to enter emergency mediation.

CA and the ACA have been deadlocked for months regarding the next pay deal, with the sticking point being the issue of revenue sharing.

CA wants to scrap the model that has governed players’ salaries since the first memorandum of understanding was signed 20 years ago, while the union says that won’t happen.

‘‘In some respects, yes,’’ Khawaja said, when asked if CA has attempted to divide players.

‘‘It’s been a weird three months. There’s been conversations had outside cricket which have been quite different to anything I’ve experienced.’’