Cricket Australia press conference live: Australian Cricketers’ Association agree new MOU, pay deal, Bangladesh tour on
THE cricket pay war is over.
Foxsports.com.au broke the news that on Thursday afternoon the Australian Cricketers’ Association and Cricket Australia finally signed off on an agreement document that will form the basis of the new Memorandum of Understanding.
It brings an end to a battle that stretches back 10 months and threatened to derail tours of Bangladesh, India and a home Ashes series.
The central problem was a revenue sharing model that the governing body argued was outdated, but the players maintained was integral to the future prosperity of the game.
CA chief executive James Sutherland said the agreement delivered much-needed certainty for cricket in Australia.
“It will allow players ... to be contracted immediately,” Sutherland told reporters in Melbourne.
Sutherland conceded the bitter dispute had caused damage.
“Relationships with the game have been tested and I know that has been a bit of a turn-off for fans,” he said.
“Both parties acknowledge and regret that. We are restoring certainty and beginning to repair relationships, especially with the fans.
“We want the focus to be back on the cricket.”
Players will get up to 30 per cent of revenue — around $500m in the five-year period covered by the agreement.
CA and the ACA quarrelled throughout the year over a new MOU.
Some 230 players were unemployed since the previous deal expired on June 30, with the most-divisive issue during the oft-heated stoush that of revenue sharing.
CA wanted to scrap the salary model that had governed players’ salaries since the first MOU was brokered 20 years ago but players insisted it remained — it does.
“These agreements ... are complex and important to both parties,” Sutherland said.
“So it’s understandable at times they will be difficult.”
In the end, the two parties agreed on what will be termed a ‘modernised revenue sharing model,’ with female cricketers, state players and the elite males all sharing in a slice of the overall pie.
Sutherland was hunkered down with his negotiators and ACA bosses on Thursday.
A resolution had appeared likely earlier in the week and even late into the night on Wednesday, but it wasn’t until after lunch on Thursday when the two organisations shook hands to end the most bitter feud in Australian cricket since the late 1970s.
The resolution means arbitration has been avoided following Sutherland’s threat last Friday when negotiations had stalled yet again.
Players have been unemployed since July 1.
It means Australia’s tour of Bangladesh – the first since 2006 – will go ahead as planned.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW AGREEMENT
- A five-year renewed MOU
- One agreement for all male and female players for the first time in Australian cricket.
- Maintenance of the players as partner sin the game of cricket via revenue sharing.
- A revenue sharing model for all players, including men, women, international and domestic.
- A gender equality pay model that has resulted in the biggest pay rise in the history of women’s sport in Australia.
REVENUE SHARING
Believed to be the main sticking point between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association, the model agreed will see all players receive 27.5 per cent of forecast revenue and up to 2.5 per cent of a “Performance Pool”. That is estimated to be worth $500 million (or 30 per cent of $1.688 billion).
The ACA had been seeking 22.5 per cent of the larger “Total Cricket Revenue” pool based on independent projections. Instead, the ACA has agreed to accept 30 per cent (27.5 per cent plus 2.5 per cent) of the smaller Australian Cricket Rveenue pool, based on CA projections.
FOR ANY REVENUES OVER FORECAST AMOUNT
- All male and female and international and domestic players will share in this amount.
- A figure of approximately $25 million will flow to grassroots, which will be administered by a committee involving CA and the ACA. This will also be matched by the estimated $25 million of CA savings on their current administration over the next five years.
G ENDER EQUITY AND PAY STRUCTURE
A base rate of pay model has been developed with input from leading industrial relations and discrimination experts that ultimately delivers gender equality. The model, which has been signed off by the Fair Work Commission, considers hours worked and applies premiums for Australian players and the commerciality of each competition.
Some of the inclusions for female players are:
- WNCL and WBBL prizemoney
- Match fees
- Retirement fund
- Marketing and performance pools
- Injury payments
- Visitor periods for partners and families
- Payments for captains’ allowance
MININUM RETAINER
For Australian men, the base rate in the new MOU will increase 3 per cent from $270,000 to $278,1000 in the first year and that will jump again 15.9 per cent in its final year (2021-22) to $313,004.
For Australian women, the base rate in the new MOU will increase 80.2 per cent from $40,000 to $72,076 in the first year and that will jump again 119 per cent in its final year (2021-22) to $87,609.
For state men, the base rate in the new MOU will increase 7.2 per cent from $61,800 to $66,243 in the first year and that will jump again 20.6 per cent in its final year (2021-22) to $74,557.
For state women, the base rate in the new MOU will increase 133.3 per cent from $11,000 to $25,659 in the first year and that will jump again 148.1 per cent in its final year (2021-22) to $27,287.
For BBL players, the base rate in the new MOU will increase 50 per cent from $20,0000 to $30,000 in the first year and that will jump again 100.3 per cent in its final year (2021-22) to $40,064.
For WBBL players, the base rate in the new MOU will increase 47per cent from $7,0000 to $10,292 in the first year and that will jump again 65.5 per cent in its final year (2021-22) to $11,584.
OTHER TAKEAWAYS
- Players will have a greater say on scheduling through a new Scheduling Advisory group.
- A CA/ACA working group will strivce to improve the player retirement fund.
- $13 million has been put aside for a professional development program for all state and national players
— With AAP
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