The torpedo
Peter Fenwicke (45)
All but confirmed that players will be out of contract at midnight. 230 male and female cricketers affected: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-30/australian-cricket-pay-deal-mou-expires/8666232
Aus A tour to South Africa is off.
Is this as stupid as it seems by CA? The players are the only thing CA has going for it. They players don't want a payrise, they want the same percentage of revenue. Why is this so hard?
If the Aussie cricketers were truly part of the downtrodden masses, I'd be the first to support their cause.
They're very wealthy men in a dispute with other very wealthy men. No sympathy to either side.
Less, downtrodden masses, more, it's always nice to see a Union do its job properly: in so much that they're turning down straight pay increases for the most influential people (see, internationals and Big Bash Guns) and pushing for the pay distribution/model they think is best for everyone in the long term.
Wealthy v Wealthy I don't really care too much.
But the onus is on CA here, as they are the ones trying to change the system.
The players case is simple - keep the same agreement. And they don't really have to argue it, merely point to the years of fruitful relations between all parties.
I agree that neither side is blameless in this saga, though.
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CA want to change their agreement, so it's up to them to state the reasons why the new arrangement is better, and why the existing agreement is no longer fair.Why don't the players have to argue their case? The agreement is decades old and has been rolled over again and again - surely the employer has some right to alter arrangements. (And I agree that CA haven't handled it particularly well)