Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland will return to Australia on Thursday, "but there are no plans for him to take part in pay negotiations despite repeated pleas" from the players as the contract dispute heads toward a lockout, according to Peter Lalor of THE AUSTRALIAN. The Australian Cricketers' Association met in Sydney on Tuesday for its annual golf day and "put on a united front" as it faced the prospect of "being unemployed by the end of the week if the dispute is not settled." Former Test all-rounder Shane Watson warned that a lockout would be a "disaster" and said that the players "could resort to the courts if blocked from playing in other domestic T20 leagues during the lockout." There is "little hope from either side that a deal between the warring parties can be struck and both fear cricket is about to enter one of its ugliest periods," with off-contract players "refusing to take part" in tours of South Africa, Bangladesh, India and the summer's Ashes "if things are not resolved." Sutherland has been in the U.K. on Int'l Cricket Council business and visited the Southern Stars as they started their Women's Cricket World Cup campaign. CA that said there were "no plans for Sutherland to enter the negotiations." Watson, who is on the ACA board, said that a "select few" players could "seek to earn money in domestic Twenty20 tournaments such as the Caribbean Premier League" if CA follows through with its threat not to pay players from July 1. He said, "Hopefully it shouldn't get to that, it should never have got to this stage where we are now where there are three days to go and it seems like we are poles apart in the negotiations" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/28).
HIGH STAKES: In Melbourne, Russell Gould reported feeling "dismayed" by Sutherland's absence from limited negotiations over the past six months which have "failed to bridge the impasse," ACA President Greg Dyer said that the CA boss had to get involved to avoid cricket falling "off a cliff." Dyer: "It's the most important deal CA will do in five years, arguably longer, and I don't personally understand why the most senior person in the organization (Sutherland) shouldn't be involved. James Sutherland is overseas right now, so we have to wait for his return, and maybe then we can make some progress. It remains highly likely that as of the 1st of July ... that we will be jumping over the cliff together" (HERALD SUN, 6/27).
RARE MOVE: In Melbourne, Pierik & Wu reported five of the country's elite cricketers "will be offered the chance to join an Australia A tour of South Africa next month on unpaid contracts in an extraordinary move" by CA to save the trip. The cricketers will reportedly "not be locked out even if a new pay deal is not struck by Friday's deadline." There "had been fears the players would have been locked out by CA but that is not the case." This has been seen by those close to the negotiations "as a sign of good faith." It also emerged on Tuesday that CA will give five members of the 14-man squad due to head to South Africa "the chance to play for free" so as not to jeopardize their int'l aspirations. The five are Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird and Travis Head, "who enjoy CA contracts." In a "rare move, these players are set to be offered the chance to tour on unpaid -- but all expenses covered -- deals." It has "also been seen as a way of allowing the players to tour without having to break ranks with teammates" and the ACA (THE AGE, 6/27). In Sydney, Ben Horne reported the ACA declined to comment on the "stunning development of players being asked to work for free," but Dyer "did indicate that in theory the players would consider accepting tour contracts" if they trusted CA was moving toward an "overall solution to the saga." Dyer said, "I think we'd have to see some progress before that would be a likely outcome, but that's not impossible" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 6/27). REUTERS' Ian Ransom reported CA declined to comment on the negotiations but said in announcing its revised offer last week that it was "100 percent committed" to resolving the MOU by the deadline. Former Australian cricketer Ed Cowan, who is contracted for New South Wales state, said that players "remained unified and resolute in their demands," and cast doubt on captain Steve Smith's Test side "boarding the plane for Bangladesh for the test series starting Aug. 27." Cowan: "The next line in the sand is probably the tour of Bangladesh, do the players go on that late August?" (REUTERS, 6/27).
