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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Player Agent Maxwell Says Pay Dispute Puts Cricket In 'Dangerous' Territory

Player agent Neil Maxwell said that cricket's pay dispute has slipped into "dangerous" territory, with players "on the verge of falling into the hands of cashed-up entrepreneurs" and even having the right to establish their own competitions, according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. Australian national team vice-captain David Warner "has this month been vocal in his displeasure at CA's pay plan to cut players not contracted by CA" out of the 20-year-old set percentage model, a plan which has "divided players and their governing body" and meant there has been "little, if any, negotiation ahead of the June 30 deadline" for a new MOU. Maxwell said that players would "have to find their own new sources of revenue and income" from July 1 if a deal was not brokered. He added, "Their image rights and playing abilities are the two things they've got and they'll be worked hard. This has ramifications not only for Australian cricket but world cricket because you are going to have players out of contract who can play anywhere they want and set up their own matches. It is dangerous. Steve Smith and others will be free to walk into India, anywhere, and play a game, and in any sort of league" (THE AGE, 5/22). FOX SPORTS' Barton & Morris reported the ongoing pay dispute, combined with the "rising influence" of T20 cricket, "is a perfect storm." The Indian Premier League salary cap "is expected to double next season -- on the back of a new TV rights deal" believed to be worth "in the vicinity" of $A5B ($3.74B) over three years. Based on that, "it is unlikely that Australia's best and brightest stars will be able to be convinced by financial incentives: freedom is the priority." Federation of Int'l Cricketers' Associations Exec Chair Tony Irish argued that "learning how to coexist" is becoming an "increasingly troubling issue." Irish: "Many boards around the world are in a fight to retain their players in international cricket as the alternative market of T20 Leagues (which are also owned by the boards) becomes increasingly attractive to players." The "main sticking point in the Australian dispute has been the existence of the revenue sharing scheme" which has existed for the past two decades. Much of the debate in recent weeks "can be boiled down to this: players want the status quo to remain and the same revenue system to be retained," while Cricket Australia believes it to be an "outdated model." Irish "lent his support" to the Australian Cricketers' Association. He said, "Players are simply asking for the model, that has worked so well, to be retained" (FOX SPORTS, 5/22).

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