County cricket players agree extended pay cuts
County cricket's reduced pay deal has been extended to the end of July, as players continue to wait for their season to resume.
Theexistingagreementbetween the Professional Cricketers' Association and the 18 first-class counties covered April and May, with salary reductions capped at 20 per cent and domestic prize money foregone.
That has now been extended for another two months, in line with the England and Wales Cricket Board's recent announcement that there would be no domestic competition before August 1, though playersinthefinalyearoftheir contracts have been offered granted dispensation.
The earlier collective bargain included provision for playerstoacceptfurloughconditions if offered and 16 counties - all barring Surrey and
Lancashire - have since taken up the Goverment scheme.
PCAchairmanandWorcestershirebatsmanDarylMitchell said: "Although a great amount of uncertainty remains in domestic cricket, it does appear there is light at the end of the tunnel for players to return at some stage this summer.
"However, with no cricket to be played in June or July, and therefore no revenue to be generated by counties, players have agreed to extend measures to protect the futures of all counties.
"This has not been an easy decision and causes a great deal of disruption to many of our members, however, the PCA Players' Committee ultimately agreed this is the right thing to do."
Onthosewhoareapproaching the end of their current deals, Mitchell added: "We have134playersoutofcontract at the end of this summer and protecting their interests has been a consensus across the playingmembership,Iamsure the measures brought in over the next two months provides some comfort to them."
*Formula One has welcomed steps taken by the UK Government as it prepares to unveil a European calendar which will include two races to be staged at Silverstone this summer.
TheNorthamptonshirecircuit is poised to host back-toback races on the weekends of August2andAugust9aspartof aneight-racecalendartobeannouncedonTuesdaymorning.
Those races were initially pencilled in for July, but were moved back due to concerns regarding a quarantine period for international travellers arrivingintotheUK,whichisdue to begin on June 8.