Cricket Australia board members dined with Test captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner on Wednesday night in Melbourne ahead of what looms as a bitter pay dispute with the players. The make-up of the pay structure for players promises to be central to CA's negotiations over a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the players and there has been a strong belief that the current percentage-of-revenue system will be abandoned by the administration.
CA officials wined and dined the Australian team's two most senior players, Smith and Warner, as well as head coach Darren Lehmann in Melbourne on Wednesday night ahead of Friday's third and final one-day international against New Zealand at the MCG and a CA board meeting held on Thursday. A CA spokesman would not elaborate on what was discussed at the dinner when contacted on Thursday.
"This was a private dinner, and as such the contents will remain that way," a spokesman said. "Cricket Australia will be holding its MOU discussions with the ACA (Australian Cricketers' Association) directly and not publicly in the media."
The Australian team's senior players are understood to be firmly aligned with the position of the ACA, who have forecast a bitter dispute if, as expected, CA attempts to walk away from the existing partnership model. Smith is due to hold talks with officials from the ACA in Melbourne as early as Friday morning.
While leading players could stand to earn even more than they do now under an alternate contracting system, they want the status quo retained for the benefit of those who aren't at the top level. CA has refused to commit to retaining the pay model that has formed the central plank of deals with the ACA since 1997.
"We have thought a little bit about that but we won't be talking about it here," CA chief James Sutherland said at the organisation's annual general meeting in late October. "It's speculative to suggest that we will walk away from it. It's just not something that I am comfortable talking about right now. The appropriate place to talk about it is in discussions with the ACA which will commence very shortly."
That process has begun in a preliminary form, with an initial meeting between the parties last month, leading to the ACA making its submission to the governing body. It is understood CA has delayed its response to that document, a copy of which will be provided by the players' union to all players.
Under the current model, which the players want to retain, players receive a 24.5 per cent share of CA cricket revenue that can rise on a sliding scale to as much as 27 per cent based on performance.While CA has been tight-lipped about its intentions publicly there have been fears about the direction that the governing body would go in under the chairmanship of former Rio Tinto boss David Peever.
Meanwhile, CA is expected to on Friday confirm Justin Langer as the interim coach of Australia's Twenty20 team for the three internationals against Sri Lanka in February. That series clashes with Australia's Test tour of India, with head coach Darren Lehmann and assistant David Saker unavailable to oversee the T20 side because they will be on the subcontinent.
Langer's name was one of three names taken to the CA board at its meeting on Thursday and the Western Australia coach is poised to resume the caretaker job for Australia that he had for a one-day tri-series in the West Indies earlier this year.
Mike Hussey was another of the candidates whose name was taken to the board, while Shane Warne and Brad Haddin were also in line for the posting.
0 comments
New User? Sign up