ACA's proposal has 'devil in the detail claims CA chief James Sutherland

Cricket Australia’s (CA) chief James Sutherland has lashed out at the Australian Cricketers’ Association’s (ACA) proposed ‘peace plan’ on revenue sharing from digital rights, stating it has ‘devil’ in the details. Sutherland further claimed that if the cricket board is to approve ACA’s proposal, then funding for grass root cricket will have to be compromised. He further accused the ACA of jeopardizing Australia’s upcoming tours and also contradicted the idea that cricketers were being unfairly paid in the newly-developed model.

The ACA on Sunday publicly released a six-point proposed plan for the ongoing pay dispute. In a bid to end the nine-month pay impasse the ACA has threatened CA that the summer’s home Ashes will be in peril if a common ground isn’t reached. Called the “terms sheet,” the players association stated what it wants as common agreements with the board. However, CA says the sheet does not carry any negotiating weight, for it’s the MoU that only matters.

According to Cricbuzz, following ACA’s public release, the CA chief said, “I acknowledge the ACA has put forward a document which is a peace plan. It has something that says that there will be 30 million for the grassroots but the devil is in the detail. We did our analysis on that plan and our ability to fund grassroots will be compromised.”

Sutherland and ACA chief Alistair Nicholson is scheduled to have a lunch meeting in Melbourne on Sunday to discuss the new MoU. On behalf of the players, Nicholson said that they were determined to end the dispute that threatens Australia’s cricket future.

The key issue, however, remains as to how players will be paid. Cricketers, are set to pocket about A$450 million over the next five years, and want to be paid from gross revenue; CA, on the other hand, wants to change this now to a set pool with a share in surplus funds.