States are calling on Cricket Australia to "overhaul the country's high-performance system and give them more control over the management of players in the wake of the scathing review into the game," according to Andrew Wu of THE AGE. The states are using the departure of Pat Howard, who officially finished on Wednesday after seven years as the high performance manager, as a chance to air "robust" views to CA on what changes should be made to Australian cricket's "controversial pathways system." Several states reportedly told interim High Performance Manager Belinda Clark they are "strongly in favour" of decentralizing the program. There is "disquiet" among some states at head office telling them how to look after their players, and what they feel is a "lack of collaboration" between them and the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane. There is also dissatisfaction that CA does not trust states to make calls over issues "such as injury management and when players return to the field." There is a view that a centralized system is "stifling innovation" by "not encouraging diversity of ideas," which the states believe drives improvement (THE AGE, 11/14).
LONG-TERM STABILITY: ABC NEWS' Glen Lauder reported Australia's top cricketers "appear ready to launch a case" for long-term contracts with CA in a bid to "secure greater financial stability." Aussie int'l Pat Cummins has already opened negotiations with CA about signing a five-year deal to help "provide some compensation" if int'l commitments make him unavailable for lucrative T20 tournaments such as the Indian Premier League. Currently, CA only offers one-year contracts to the game's top 20 players, with second-tier deals "topped up" by the states. Test int'l Mitchell Starc said that the "financial safety net" of a long-term CA contract "could help offset any loss of income due to injury or a clash of schedules." He said, "I'm sure it would [help] a lot of people. It's probably no different to working life outside of the sporting field" (ABC NEWS, 11/14).
