Cricket's pay dispute shows few signs of abating, with fears next month's Test tour of Bangladesh could yet be scrapped.
The Australian Cricketers Association and Cricket Australia returned to the negotiating table on Wednesday for the first time since talks broke up on Saturday.
While CA chief James Sutherland and counterpart Alistair Nicholson were in the room, it's understood little progress was made on the key stumbling block - that being the revenue model from which players would be paid.
Players have been paid since 1997 under a gross-revenue scheme; CA now wants that to change to a set pool and a share in only surplus revenue.
Players have welcomed Sutherland's participation after months of hankering but progress is said to be slow - at best.
CA said on Wednesday night discussions were progressing steadily and discussions were to resume on Thursday.
The talks resumed on a day Australian Cricketers Association commercial manager Tim Cruickshank was due to arrive in India, where he will explore commercial opportunities for the Test stars and their domestic brethren, who have been unemployed since July 1. Cruickshank is due to meet with brand agencies and even potential broadcasters, with the possibility of deliberating on whether to play in a rival competition.
Australia's Test squad is due to head into camp in Darwin from August 10, ahead of the tour of Bangladesh. While the main game between CA and the ACA is to broker a new memorandum of understanding, the more likely option - should any resolution be found - is to sign off on an in-principle agreement. That would allow the tour to go ahead, with the first Test in Dhaka from August 27.
If that tour is cancelled, it's unlikely players would agree to take part in a one-day series in India in October.
The Test players are unwilling to head overseas should they be offered tour-by-tour contracts if it means 200 of their fellow cricketers are at home unemployed. Players have so far also missed a fortnight of pay, with CA declaring that $1.2 million would go into grassroots cricket.