Cricket Australia proposed a new pay deal to players "which offers large salary increases, particularly for women, but breaks with the 20-year model of a fixed percentage of revenue from the game going to the cricketers," according to Nick Mulvenney of REUTERS. The A$419M ($322.6M) offer is a 35% increase on the current five-year deal, which expires in July, and was laid out by CA CEO James Sutherland on Tuesday. CA said that the new deal meant int'l men's players, taking into account bonuses, match fees and domestic Twenty20 wages, "would be earning an average" of A$1.45M ($1.12M) a year by the '21-22 season. Sutherland: "We have placed the emphasis on increasing the guaranteed amount that the men will receive, rather than rely on any projected increase in revenue." The Australian Cricketers' Association responded by saying that it needed to scrutinize the "small print of the offer and reiterated its stance that any new deal should include a revenue sharing model." The "biggest winners under the new deal would be women players," who will be included in the "memorandum of understanding" for a first time. Sutherland said, "Under the proposal, women will receive an immediate average pay increase of more than 125 percent. As a result, our international women cricketers will see their average pay increase from A$79,000 ($60,830) to A$179,000 ($137,830), as of July 1 this year. By 2021, we expect to see our international women cricketers earning an average of A$210,000 ($161,700)" (REUTERS, 3/21). The AAP reported CA and the ACA have "argued about several topics during pay talks, which will become more frantic and tense in the months ahead" as the existing deal expires on June 30. Sutherland said that the average pay of domestic female players would "rocket" from A$22,000 ($16,940) to A$52,000 ($40,040). The men and women "have stood together on the issue to date, but the latest offer form CA could tempt them to break ranks." Australia captain Steve Smith and his colleagues "will not want to deal with the issue until their four-Test series in India is over" (AAP, 3/21). ABC reported Sutherland said, "We wanted to address the historic disparity between male and female players. It really is a landmark moment, it's something we're very excited about. It's a landmark moment for cricket and for women's sport in this country" (ABC, 3/21).
