Cricket Australia agree to contract clause, allows docked player wages for picking club over country

Cricket Australia has made a significant alteration to the contracts of its stars, which will give them the flexibility to financially dock players in future.

Cricket Australia at last has the mechanism to financially dock stars who put overseas franchise leagues ahead of their country, while still keeping players onside.

The new contract clause agreed this year means CA and state associations now have the option to negotiate a reduction in the retainer of any player who might choose to play franchise T20 cricket abroad during an Australian international series or during the home summer.

It doesn’t mean CA would be pulling that lever at every opportunity but it does give it some form of defence in the quickly changing landscape where the expectation is that franchise leagues will ultimately take over from national bodies as the primary employers of cricketers.

The contract change in the new MOU was embraced by the Australian Cricketers Association, which also has an interest in keeping stars in the Australian system for as long as possible.

There is a pragmatism about how Australian cricket is bracing for the great unknown of where cricket might be in two or five years.

Aussie duo Cameron Green (L) and Tim David are both big-earners in the IPL with Mumbai Indians. Picture: AFP

Players agree there needs to be give and take in the battle between club and country.

“In the new MOU there is now conditionality,” ACA chief executive Todd Greenberg said.

“If a player asks to play overseas during a relevant season and requires an NOC (release permission), it is no longer a binary position of yes or no.

“In these cases there can be a good faith conversation between the player and CA or their state association and this may lead to a negotiation that can take into account many factors.

“For instance, there can be an agreed reduction in their retainer, an agreed return date for a format of the game they will participate in (a Shield or Marsh Cup game) or anything the two parties agree to.

“It is designed so that if a situation does not clearly warrant a player being given an NOC, the answer doesn’t have to be only ‘no, you can’t go and play’. It is ‘let’s have a conversation and see if we can negotiate a mutually satisfactory outcome’.

“That keeps the relationship strong and the player in our Australian system for longer.”

Australian Cricketers' Association boss Todd Greenberg says the new clause gives added flexibility to players and Cricket Australia. Picture: Getty

White-ball globetrotter Tim David might be one of the first stars to be subject to the unique negotiations between CA and player.

After making his name as a T20 freelancer, David has accepted a Cricket Australia contract before the T20 World Cup next year in the West Indies and US.

However, David could still turn down Australian selection, as he has done in the past, under the clause, which would allow CA to dock his salary for the days he was absent in-season or during a series.

A player could be docked up to 0.25 per cent of his CA deal per day during the home season and up to an additional 0.5 per cent of his CA contract for each day of an international match for which he is unavailable.

It means David, as an example, could still advance his career and form on the road in overseas leagues but Cricket Australia would be protected and compensated in the sense it wouldn’t have to necessarily pay him his full freight for being absent from national colours.

Marcus Stoinis is another regular of the Australian team who is in demand by T20 leagues around the world. Picture: Getty

The new mechanism might also come into play with Big Bash stars such as Chris Lynn and Marcus Stoinis, who have looked to play in the UAE T20 league, which last year ran adjacent to the Big Bash.

Greenberg told Gerard Whateley on SEN this week that Cricket Australia’s current contract model was likely to become outdated but praised the governing body for embracing flexibility rather than trying to be defensive in a changing landscape where on money alone it wouldn’t be able to compete with the ridiculous sums being offered to players overseas.

“It can be and will be (outdated) shortly,” Greenberg said.

“I get the sense that the model is being challenged and the difference between red-ball cricket, white-ball cricket, for young men and women coming through the system.

“In our childhood, maybe (kids) only thought about wearing the baggy green. That is changing and that is the reality of what we are facing.”

Originally published as Cricket Australia agree to contract clause, allows docked player wages for picking club over country