Throughout their "long and bitter pay dispute," Australia's cricketers kept saying that it was not about the money, according to Chip Le Grand of THE AUSTRALIAN. If the past four days in Dhaka have "told us anything," it is that "money is a poor measure of a cricketer’s worth." The "hapless 11" who on Wednesday became the first Australian team to lose a Test to Bangladesh will be paid an average of A$1.36M ($1.07M) from Cricket Australia this financial year, or about A$26,000 ($20,540) a week. The team that "humiliated them on a turning pitch" are paid average annual salaries of A$26,136 ($20,650), or about A$500 ($395) a week. Did Australia's national team "expend too much energy on the Australian Cricket Association picket line and not enough in the nets?" Former Test player Rodney Hogg said, "I don't think it affected the players. It was a nasty environment -- the ACA versus Cricket Australia was terrible -- but I don't think the individuals were too concerned about it. Asia is a hard gig for us" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/31).
