The Australian board is trying to splinter players: Ian Chappell

Disputes regarding payment to cricketers is nothing new to the game. Be it the recent West Indies non-payment saga or even the infamous Australian pay dispute of the 70s, which led to the birth of World Series cricket. One of the pioneers of the period, Ian Chappell has written a column in a Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph, on the most recent pay issue plaguing Australian cricket. The former Aussie captain has always been one not to mince his words and this case wasn’t any different.

Chappell said that the Cricket Australia relied on a notion that greed would play an important part in the top players accepting a pay offer which backfired. However, he felt that they might work out a plan in time for the Ashes later this year. The present deal, which has been around for the past two decades will come to an end owing to the rejection by the current players.

“Piece of the pie”

The proposal set forth a payment mode by which the current players will get more than the current five-year CBA plan. However, the catch is that it allows international players to get a “piece of the pie” as they say when it comes to international surplus whereas the domestic players will get fixed amounts.

“From afar it looks as though the board is trying to splinter the players, which I find a rather strange tactic. Maybe the board thought. You know what the players are like. They were working on the theory of greed that you keep the top blokes happy with money and they won’t care about the rest. It looks like they’ve picked the wrong target”. Chappell said.

The deadline of June 30 given by Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has received a heated response from the Australian Cricketers Association, the players union and also David Warner who warned the board that they might not have a team to field in the Ashes. nd eventually they will come to their senses”.

Chappell said that there is always the option for the players to go the “Chris Gayle” route and play in lucrative Twenty20 leagues around the world but doubted it would ever come to that. He said that “there will be more posturing and eventually they will come to their senses”.