Aussie players hit CA for six

Melbourne – Australia’s bruising and protracted cricket pay dispute was finally resolved yesterday with players and management agreeing on a new “in-principle” deal, ensuring upcoming series against Bangladesh, India and England can go ahead.

The players appeared to be the winners in the five-year agreement, worth an estimated $396 million, as they retained the revenue-sharing model they had been fighting for – with women cricketers also included for the first time.

The bad-tempered stand-off had been rumbling for months, rattling the game and badly straining the players’ relationship with governing body Cricket Australia (CA).

Some 230 cricketers had been unemployed since the end of June when their contracts expired, putting this month’s Test tour to Bangladesh under serious threat.

“Today’s agreement is the re- sult of sensible compromises by both parties,” said CA chief James Sutherland, adding that the “core issues” had been worked out.

He said the five-year deal would “restore much certainty to the game of cricket”.

“It will allow all players – state and international players – to be contracted immediately and it will also allow the tour of Bangladesh to proceed as planned.”

At the heart of the dispute had been the divisive issue of revenue-sharing.

CA wanted to scrap the model that has governed players’ salaries since their first memorandum of understanding was brokered 20 years ago.

Players have been paid a percentage of gross revenue for the past two decades, and they argued that changing the system would make them employees rather than partners with incentives to grow the game.

In the end, it was the players who came out on top. –