Cricket Australia has growing concerns players are being "led up the garden path" in their pay fight and declared it will not "back down on plans to slash the revenue-share model," according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. In response to a report on Sunday where it emerged that players were "frustrated by the lack of detail in CA's submission," the game's governing body "hit back," questioning whether the Australian Cricketers' Association is "up to the task of negotiating a new deal." The two parties, "increasingly at odds," are "due to meet for the first time in five weeks on Friday," with each side having had to postpone earlier dates because of personal or work circumstances. But CA is concerned by what it claims to be a "lack of urgency from the players." A CA source said, "There is growing concern at the ACA's ability to represent the players effectively. We provided them with a detailed offer five weeks ago and we have received no detailed response from them with regard to that." The ACA rejected this claim, insisting it "needed more detail on how CA's plan would be funded," and will release its response this week. However, CA said that as 80% of revenue is uncontracted, with sponsorships and a new broadcast rights deal "yet to be resolved," it cannot provide specifics. It has offered "a range of scenarios" in terms of revenue but claims the ACA has not asked for this. The ACA also denies this, claiming it has "repeatedly asked for the information" (THE AGE, 4/26).
