Australia's cricketers have "demanded a review of performance-related pay for contracted players who stand to take another financial hit after an under-strength one-day international team was defeated by New Zealand last week," according to Ian Ransom of REUTERS. With compensation "burnished by performance bonuses for winning series, Australia's cricketers can find their pay packets diminished when teammates are rested due to overlaps in the schedule." Australia could also lose its world No. 1 ranking in one-day cricket if South Africa defeats Sri Lanka in the last two matches of its series this week, "meaning another potential hit for players who can receive further bonuses when the team holds the top ranking across the three formats." Players, who have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with Cricket Australia, said that "the performance-based system needed to be revisited." CA declined to comment but has described the global scheduling regime as "difficult" and said that it "wants less international cricket rather than more" (REUTERS, 2/7).
