Players Propose Peace Plan

1 July, 2017

Yesterday the ACA Chief Executive Alistair Nicholson provided Australia's male and female players with an update on the MOU negotiations.

This update included the following points.

ACA has long called for and now welcomed the involvement of the CA CEO James Sutherland to the negotiating table.

That following many days of talks between the parties, a solution-focused ‘peace plan’ was presented by the ACA to CA in the form of a Terms Sheet the ACA believed was consistent with the direction the talks were taking.

The main elements in the peace plan included:

  • Players conceding to accept CA's lower end revenue scenarios as the basis for the allocation to Australian Cricket Revenue (ACR) given market and contract uncertainty;
  • Players accepting an agreed percentage of the ACR forecast. (Note this percentage is of ACR and not Total Cricket Revenue (TCR) and it is not an increase in share on the last MOU but does factor in the inclusion of all female players);
  • Revenue sharing is modified so that the players allocate up to $30 million via a new Players Grassroots Investment Fund (PGIF) from their share of over forecast revenue and performance bonuses;
  • Thus reducing the share of revenue players would otherwise earn;
  • Both parties agree to a gender-neutral pay model and the inclusion of women in the one MOU;
  • Back pay be provided to players (who have kept training even though unemployed) and the current adjustment ledger would not be 'rolled over', both of which are, as instructed by the players, plainly and rightly non-negotiable;
  • That given the urgency, the dispute could be resolved by both parties agreeing to the Terms Sheet, mindful that a full MOU and integrated player contracts would take some to complete; and
  • That the ACA are now concerned that a number of fundamentals in this Terms Sheet had been dismissed by CA and are now seeking clarification.

Nicholson said the players were determined to resolve the dispute and return to playing cricket, hence their revamped offer.

“The previous MOU took almost 18 months to draft following an in-principle position being reached by both parties.

"Reaching in principle agreement is what the players have attempted to do this week as a way of breaking the deadlock and not jepoardising any more cricket.

"The players in the latest ACA offer have moved a long way. We are seeking the same kind of movement from CA," Nicholson said.

Meetings between the two CEOs will continue.

© Australian Cricket Players Limited
Photos courtesy of Getty Images
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