Cricket's "ugly pay dispute plunged back into crisis overnight just when it seemed progress was being made between the two sides," according to Peter Lalor of THE AUSTRALIAN. Both parties were "confident talks were back on track" on Wednesday, but negotiations "derailed when Cricket Australia's Kevin Roberts again defied senior players" and sent a video to cricketers reiterating why the organization believes excluding domestic and female players from the pay share model will benefit grassroots cricket. Steve Smith, Meg Lanning "and other leading players" requested CA negotiate with the Australian Cricketers' Association and "repeatedly insisted that the representative body handle the deal with their support." The int'l male players are "stunned" the organization "would resort to such tactics on the eve of a critical Champions Trophy match against England on Saturday." The move "sparked an angry response" from the ACA, which attacked CA for its tactic. In Roberts' video to the players, he repeated the argument that 70% of revenue is spent supporting elite players, 12% to grassroots and 17% to run the game. Roberts said that the model is "unbalanced and unsustainable" but the players argued that the model "can be changed without breaking the partnership deal" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/8). Lalor also reported "frustrated players" questioned whether CA is "trying to undermine its campaign." Cricketer David Warner "lashed CA from the team hotel" in Birmingham, England, accusing it of spreading "half-truths" about the pay dispute. He continued his attack Thursday, saying that the players were focused on Saturday's game but it was "disappointing CA kept dragging the dispute back into the spotlight." Warner added, "They obviously haven't thought about the process. We've given back almost A$30 million ($22.6M) to grassroots cricket. But at the end of the day we're here to win and if CA want to try and help us win I think they wouldn't be releasing videos like that." CA has twice rejected offers of mediation from the ACA (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/9). In London, Ali Martin reported under CA's proposed new system, there are "improved terms" for female players at state and int'l level but, while the int'l men will also be "better off under a capped system," it separates them from the domestic players, who will be "relatively worse off." At present, all professional male players share a fixed 20% of the revenue (GUARDIAN, 6/8).
