They may have lost the Ashes and "suffered a whitewash at the hands of the seventh-ranked Sri Lankan side," but Australia’s cricketers "are still set to rake in a bonus" of almost A$70M ($53.4M) at the end of the financial year, according to Peter Lalor of THE AUSTRALIAN. Australian cricket "is rolling in cash after the success of the Big Bash, last year’s World Cup and a record broadcast agreement and the players look set to use a large portion of their share to set up a retirement fund." Last year Cricket Australia "posted a net surplus" of A$98.7M, up from A$9.9M the year before.
The contracted male players are entitled to around 26% of cricket revenue and the top male players earn almost A$2M ($1.5M) a season.
With revenue "well in excess of projections" at the beginning of the latest collective bargaining agreement between CA and the Australian Cricketers Association, almost A$70M "will be handed over to the ACA at the end of the next financial year." There "has been pressure behind the scenes from CA" for the players to use their 26% share to top up women’s pay, but the ACA "is determined that the female players be brought into the next MOU." ACA CEO Alistair Nicholson "is preparing for negotiations on the next MOU" which begin next month and said that the players’ windfall reflects the "good health of the game" in this country. He said, "The game is in good shape because of the way the partnership model in the MOU works. It grows the game for all parties" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/8).
