Australia warns players as pay row deadline looms

SYDNEY: Cricket Australia (CA) 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 on Friday 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 e-mail said.

The correspondence is seen as a clear sign that CA intends to dig in if players do not agree to its proposal to modify the revenue-share arrangement from previous agreements.

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