Steve Smith speaks up on pay dispute via social media

Steve Smith poured his heart out about the ongoing pay dispute in Australian cricket in a lengthy post. The skipper expressed his solidarity with the ACA and their commitment to retaining the revenue-share model for the players. The ongoing monetary feud between the Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketer’s Association (ACA) has been raging for quite some time now, and no settlement has been reached upon yet.

Around 200 professional cricketers, including Smith, got unemployed when the July 1 deadline – by which time a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two bodies was scheduled to be signed – passed with no agreement last weekend. The deadlock is a result of the CA’s proposal to modify the existing MoU according to which the players are now offered a capped share of surplus revenue. However, the players remain committed to the previous model whereby they receive a share of all gross cricket-related revenue.

Smith’s heartfelt post

Steve Smith issued a statement on the social media platform, Instagram reaffirming the stance of the players and their union on not compromising their push to maintain the revenue-share model that Cricket Australia wants to modify. “I’ll say what we as players have been saying for some time now: we are not giving up the revenue sharing model for all players,” he wrote.

He expressed their intent towards supporting men’s and women’s cricketers at domestic level by saying, “As leaders that’s what David (Warner), Meg (Lanning), Alex (Blackwell) and I have been fighting for: a fair share for state players who are also partners in cricket. State players need to be taken care of financially so the domestic competition will always be strong which in turn keeps us strong at the International level.” He recapitulated on how after having been dropped in 2011 from the national team, he found his feet in the strong domestic competition, that contributed largely in shaping his career.

Smith further vouched to stand in support of women’s cricket development. On this matter, he stated, “Also as Women’s cricket gets bigger and bigger in Australia women players must also be able to share in what they will be earning. They must have the same chances and incentives to grow the game as the men have had since revenue sharing started.”

Response to Steve Smith’s post from the top brass

As reported by cricket.com.au, in response to Smith’s statement, a CA spokesperson said, “CA respects that players are entitled to express their opinion and remains 100 per cent focused on reaching a resolution to the MoU as soon as possible.”

Furthermore, as a part of the tumbling dominoes, the players announced last week, on Thursday they had withdrawn from the proposed Australia A tour to South Africa, which was supposed to start this weekend. It is expected that talks between the two parties will resume tomorrow.

Here is the Instagram post by Steve Smith:

I'll say what we as players have been saying for some time now: we are not giving up the revenue sharing model for all players. But, through the ACA we are willing to make important changes to modernise the existing model for the good of the game. We are and have always been willing to make those changes. Changes for how the model can be adapted for the even greater benefit of grass roots cricket, which is after all where we all started. We are determined to keep revenue sharing for all because we must take care of domestic players in Australia. As leaders that’s what David, Meg, Alex and I have been fighting for: a fair share for state players who are also partners in cricket. I know from my career that when I was dropped in 2011 if I didn't have a strong domestic competition to go back to, I certainly wouldn't be in the position that I'm in today. State players need to be taken care of financially so the domestic competition will always be strong which in turn keeps us strong at the International level. Also as Women's cricket gets bigger and bigger in Australia women players must also be able to share in what they will be earning. They must have the same chances and incentives to grow the game as the men have had since revenue sharing started. And I know I speak for all of the men that we want women cricketers in the one deal with the men as well. It's time to get a deal done. It should be and can be an exciting time for the game.

A post shared by Steve Smith (@steve_smith49) on Jul 8, 2017 at 3:18pm PDT