On a bitter wicket

MELBOURNE: Australia’s cricket board has warned that players will not be given new contracts if they fail to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement in an escalation of a protracted and increasingly bitter pay dispute. Australia’s professional cricketers rejected a pay offer from Cricket Australia (CA) last month, saying the proposal was “a win for cricket administrators but a loss for cricket”. CA released its proposal in March, offering large salary increases, but breaking with the 20-year model of a fixed percentage of revenue from the game going to the cricketers. CA’s CEO James Sutherland told the players’ association that they need to meet terms with CA or players will go unpaid when the bargaining agreement expires on June 30. – Reuters