Big Bash League players will not get extra money for playing on Christmas Day.GETTY IMAGES
Cricket Australia "secretly won an agreement from players" to hold a Big Bash League match on Christmas Day, according to Peter Lalor of THE AUSTRALIAN. The administration "has been pushing for several years" to get a match on the religious holiday "despite resistance from players concerned about its impact on families." The players won the right to "excuse themselves from the game on religious grounds," but the decision to host a sporting match during the "most important celebration on the Christian calendar is sure to provoke controversy." CA agreed as part of the negotiations to "fly in and accommodate players’ families and host a function," as it does for the test side in Melbourne on that day. The decision was relayed to the players' managers in an email which the Australian Cricketers' Association and CA "hoped to keep confidential," but it was leaked. The players "get no extra money" for the loss of their Christmas Day (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/28).
