Australia's cricketers "will lodge their official submission for increased wages and conditions in less than three weeks, kick starting the latest round of negotiations," according to Jon Pierik of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.
Oct. 21 "has been pencilled in as the date when discussions will officially begin, with the Australian Cricketers' Association and Cricket Australia working feverishly in recent months to ready themselves for what could be protracted negotiations." One of the key agenda items "will be women's pay." The ACA "failed in its bid to have the women included in an overall memorandum of understanding earlier this year," but CA "is now more open to this, which would also help women secure better conditions." But the issue will be "where this extra money is generated."
As it stands, money generated by the Southern Stars and the Women's Big Bash League, such as through broadcasting rights, sponsorship, digital media and ticket sales, "is not included in the revenue used to pay the men." The new MOU "will also take into consideration what shapes as another strong increase in broadcast rights for all forms of the game from 2018." The Big Bash League "could treble in value," while Fox Sports "is also keen to reacquire a slice of the flourishing Twenty20 tournament, while also simulcasting Channel Nine's coverage or having their own commentary of domestic Tests."
Outside of pure monetary matters, male cricketers "have growing concerns about the lack of input they have in attempting to ease an increasingly congested international schedule, although this problem has arisen, in part, because of lucrative domestic Twenty20 tournaments" (SMH, 10/4).
