Kolkata: Amidst the pay dispute between the Australian Cricketer’s Association and Cricket Australia, the players from the Australian A team has withdrawn from the upcoming tour to South Africa for a tri-series also involving India as well.
The decision to pull out of the tour was announced by the ACA after there was no progress made in the new pay deal between these two bodies.
This would directly harm players like Travis Head, Usman Khwaja and the big-hitting Glenn Maxwell who could have made an impact to be selected in the Ashes this November but they have stood their ground with the ACA after the Memorandum of Understanding expired on June 30 leaving over 200 Australian cricketers unemployed.
The negotiations between the ACA and Australian Cricket Board have thus yielded no positive result as the ACA is not willing to change it’s stance as on this issue. They had asked for the revenue sharing model but CA hasn’t provided the with the same which puts the Australian tour of Bangladesh and the Ashes in November in jeopardy.
In a statement the ACA said, “It is with great frustration that with no progress towards resolving the current dispute, Australia A players confirm they will not tour South Africa.
“This decision is made in support of more than 200 male and female players who are now unemployed, and is consistent with Sunday’s ACA Executive meeting resolutions.”
The statement further read, “By making this call, the Australia A players have sacrificed their own ambitions for the collective; an incredibly selfless act that shows their strength and overall commitment to the group.
“All players are deeply disappointed at the behaviour of CA which forces this course of action, given the players would rather be playing for their country.”
“CA refuse to attend mediation or offer any genuine flexibility in the MOU negotiations. And without mediation it’s hard to see how there can be the progress necessary to reach agreement.”
“The ACA again calls on common sense to prevail and for the CA CEO to attend mediation. The ACA sits at the table awaiting CA’s genuine participation.”
The ACA also said, “unless contractually obliged, no male or female players intend to play for a Cricket Australia [CA] team whilst fellow players remain unemployed due to the absence of an MOU”.
Allan Border offers to mediate
Former Australian captain Allan Border is fearful of the fact that the Ashes in November this year could be in jeopardy as he said that he is ready to mediate between the two bodies who are involved in a pay dispute.
More than 200 Australian cricketers have been left without a job after the MoU expired and Border said Australian cricket has reached a, ‘ridiculous’ point.