Aussie players not happy with payments

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Kriterion_BD
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Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by Kriterion_BD »

CA's proposal has been rejected.

BD players were also unhappy and asked for a raise. Also Indian players have had issues as well and unconfirmed reports are they havent been paid for some Test matches.

So not just a ZC issue...
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JHunter
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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by JHunter »

Was never just a ZC problem. Was a perennial WI problem too. And a SL problem. Was an occasional English problem too. And was a MAJOR Kenyan problem.

We will see how Australia and the others perform (or not) as a result of these disputes. It will be instructive to see if the performances dip or not.

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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by brmtaylor.com admin »

CA should stick to their guns on this one. The players get paid plenty, by far the highest paid sportspeople in Australia. It's not like they are going without - they are just getting greedy.

cricket_22001
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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by cricket_22001 »

Ok. I respect everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Now, I'll state mine. Firstly, as a former owner of a business, I acknowledge the cart can't lead the horse, ie management lead. But where management wants to change a pay structure when a technological change hasn't forced the change, it is historically not at the employees benefit. But a pay structure has existed for 20 years. Now CA wants to change it.
Having said that, whilst there is blame on both sides, CA as leaders have acted terribly. Inflammatory comments by Sutherland back in May. David Peever's role as toe cutter trying to play the long game & break the players hoping the money will run out & forcing them to accept CA's offer. Then, when sponsors are getting nervous, Sutherland coming to the table to negotiate, long after the ACA asked for his involvement.
For anyone to get any background, I recommend them to watch Ian Chappell's review which compares this dispute to the USA baseball strike of 94/95. Peever, in business, wants to break unions. From a mining background, he has done as much. He has tried the same tactics in cricket. What he has missed is, whilst the product extracted from the earth is processed by employees they are two separate entities. In cricket, his players are employees are the product & the partner. (Again, I refer to Ian Chappell's views- he has hated administrators since about 1970). And Peever is gazzumped by the ACA's strength.
There is no doubt the elite Australian cricketer was to be well rewarded in CA's offer. But they rejected it. Because CA are not allowing for the long term renumeration of the Sheffield Shield players. So, the elite are standing by their mate.(does this differ from the pre-xmas Logan Cup game where there was a partial strike)?
So, Peever doesn't even ask why the elite have rejected CA offers.
The ACA appears to have found funding to secure the immediate future of the less than well off cricketers. Also, the ACA has patented the Cricketers brand. Now, it seems, CA will pay cricketers to play as well as the rights to use their image in advertising. A brilliant strategy by CA to allow that to happen
The elite are starting to find alternate sponsors which compromise existing long term CA deals.
The disclosed financials reveal CA have $70Million in reserve! This, for apparently a non profit organisation.
James Sutherland & his other lead negotiator, Kevin Roberts are disgraces. As players they were struggling to make Sheffield Shield. They know the sacrifice & effort required. Now, they sit as fat cats, living off any success from the senior players. Ask any spectator, " Have you come to the ground to watch the cricket or the administrators?"
I am holding off on my opinion on CA board member Mark Taylor. I don't know what role he plays. But he too knows the struggles of a wannabee.
This dispute is far removed from the Packer led dispute of the 70s. Our elite are multi millionaires. Even the Shield players are allegedly earning $199K/year. (I suggest this a regular such as Chris Hartley or John Hastings or Sam Whiteman, not the semi-regular player). And while this is scrutinised, nobody mentioned that CA employed 50 staff in the year 2000 & 450 staff now (sound familiar Zimbabwe?).
Australian cricket will be hurt for a generation to come. If they don't tour Bangladesh in August(for other than security reasons), I hope they are sued like the Windies were sued by India a few years ago. And I hope there will be new board members in the not too distant future.

Kriterion_BD
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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

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brmtaylor.com admin wrote:
Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:27 pm
CA should stick to their guns on this one. The players get paid plenty, by far the highest paid sportspeople in Australia. It's not like they are going without - they are just getting greedy.
But its not about the national team players. CA prolly has 25 or so guys on central contracts and the top earners (Smith, Warner, Starc) probably gross close to 2 million USD per annum (match fees, salary, IPL included). The lead guys aren't in this for themselves, they are in it for the domestic scrubs the guys who will never make the Aussie national team, never play in the IPL or even the BPL, and may or may not get a chance in the Big Bash. Those guys are maybe making 50-100k USD per year (my guesstimate). The national team players are doing this in solidarity with them.

Whenever it comes to boards vs players, I almost always side with the players. They are the ones people really care about. I wouldn't give two shits about James Sutherland, but I hope James Pattinson can stay fit and keep rattling the stumps.
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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

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I might just be talking to the wrong people, but in Australia I haven't seen much sympathy for the players position. I can guarantee that if this dispute spills over into the Ashes, the average punter will not be supportive of the players standing their ground with $2m contracts unsigned in front of them. Aussie's are known for tall poppy syndrome.
Those guys are maybe making 50-100k USD per year (my guesstimate). The national team players are doing this in solidarity with them.
Let's go even lower. $50k USD is about $63k AUD.

Let's pretend that they make $55-60k AUD. By our standards it's a modest wage but nobody is going to starve making that sort of money. And remember they only play for half a year, if they aren't doing something in the off-season to prepare for life after cricket (a trade, further study or just a part time job) then they are being foolish.

I don't believe for one second that the Smith's and Warner's (who I am losing respect for) are standing firm on the revenue/percentage sharing because of Joe Journeyman in Tasmania. They are terrified that the next BBL rights deal will be worth a fortune and that they'll personally miss out on a windfall. This is not a Zimbabwe situation; these guys are well paid already so the only reason they are doing this is greed. I'd like to see CA call the ACA's bluff; offer very low base contracts and huge revenue sharing deals - then threaten to sell TV rights at-cost for the next cycle. The ACA would back away from revenue sharing faster than a Mitchell Starc effort ball.

The tail can't wag the dog on this one.

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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by Kriterion_BD »

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:
Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:32 am
I might just be talking to the wrong people, but in Australia I haven't seen much sympathy for the players position. I can guarantee that if this dispute spills over into the Ashes, the average punter will not be supportive of the players standing their ground with $2m contracts unsigned in front of them. Aussie's are known for tall poppy syndrome.
Those guys are maybe making 50-100k USD per year (my guesstimate). The national team players are doing this in solidarity with them.
Let's go even lower. $50k USD is about $63k AUD.

Let's pretend that they make $55-60k AUD. By our standards it's a modest wage but nobody is going to starve making that sort of money. And remember they only play for half a year, if they aren't doing something in the off-season to prepare for life after cricket (a trade, further study or just a part time job) then they are being foolish.

I don't believe for one second that the Smith's and Warner's (who I am losing respect for) are standing firm on the revenue/percentage sharing because of Joe Journeyman in Tasmania. They are terrified that the next BBL rights deal will be worth a fortune and that they'll personally miss out on a windfall. This is not a Zimbabwe situation; these guys are well paid already so the only reason they are doing this is greed. I'd like to see CA call the ACA's bluff; offer very low base contracts and huge revenue sharing deals - then threaten to sell TV rights at-cost for the next cycle. The ACA would back away from revenue sharing faster than a Mitchell Starc effort ball.

The tail can't wag the dog on this one.
I agree that Smith and Warner and co are really in it for themselves primarily. but they could also b acting in the interests of the domestic guys.

at the end of the day balance and middle grounds ought to be sought. but I think the players hold the leverage. the IPL $$$ ensures that the CA will have to budge.

what is the word on the street (unless you're not in Australia)...do people really think the Ashes will be cancelled.
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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by brmtaylor.com admin »

I don't think anyone really expects the impasse to last until the Ashes, the stakes are too high. The government has already said they would intervene if it looked like happening. It would be a PR disaster (in terms of tourism) if you had all these British tourists book/cancelled tickets to Australia for the cricket and no matches happened.

I reckon the Bangladesh tour is very unlikely to happen though. Unlike the Ashes there would be no real backlash if the BD tour was cancelled. That's another reason why I don't have much respect for the players: in all their press releases they say how much they are looking forward to touring BD which is just a flat out lie. Smith, Warner and co strike me as having a holier than thou attitude - it's so disingenuous; they'd place more importance on an IPL warm up match than a Test against Bangladesh unfortunately.

Kriterion_BD
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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by Kriterion_BD »

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:
Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:06 am
I don't think anyone really expects the impasse to last until the Ashes, the stakes are too high. The government has already said they would intervene if it looked like happening. It would be a PR disaster (in terms of tourism) if you had all these British tourists book/cancelled tickets to Australia for the cricket and no matches happened.

I reckon the Bangladesh tour is very unlikely to happen though. Unlike the Ashes there would be no real backlash if the BD tour was cancelled. That's another reason why I don't have much respect for the players: in all their press releases they say how much they are looking forward to touring BD which is just a flat out lie. Smith, Warner and co strike me as having a holier than thou attitude - it's so disingenuous; they'd place more importance on an IPL warm up match than a Test against Bangladesh unfortunately.
Ironically, BD fans found it more offensive when people denigrated BD around 2005 than nowadays. There's an acceptance that respect has to be earned the hard way. I am sure its because its actually being earned gradually...it appears achievable.

but the facts are BD will never compete with the IPL in terms of "importance". i also dont think the Ashes will be cancelled. I wonder what happens with the India tour tho...hard to imagine the backlash against such a big series not being a major factor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtuZBykSzM (Noreaga - Blood Money Part 3)

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Re: Aussie players not happy with payments

Post by Jemisi »

I don't have a lot of sympathy for the players. They could easily argue for a Shield increase and a national pay freeze. I don't have any sympathy for the administrators. They have gone back on recent agreements. They are all on big money. The back room staff could easily make way for better wages for women and state players. It isn't that difficult to be constructive. It isn't their money for a start. Learn some stewardship people!

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