Queensland refuse to sign up for Cricket Australia pay cut demands but a key staff change is looming
Queensland Cricket has baulked at signing up for at least $8 million in pay cuts requested by Cricket Australia, but changes are happening behind the scenes, including the return of a former Shield-winning coach.
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Concerned Queensland Cricket officials are yet to agree to a 25 per cent budget cut requested by Cricket Australia, who face another showdown which cuts to the heart of who is actually running the game.
Queensland Cricket may have to shed more than $8 million in costs if it agrees to the 25 per cent cut which CA have ordered and NSW and Queensland are yet to sign up for.
While QC has made several cuts, including the redundancy of Brisbane Heat boss Andrew McShea, and has many more on the way, it has not officially signed up for the 25 per cent cuts and continues to ask questions of its governing body who are feeling the heat from inquisitive states on one side and players on the other.
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Replacing McShea is a more complex issue than it appears for the Heat because workplace laws say you cannot directly replace a person if their position has been made redundant.
It is likely Bennett King, a triple Sheffield Shield-winning coach who recently rejoined Queensland Cricket, will be given an expanded role which will absorb some of the responsibilities of staff effected by the cuts.
King, who also coached West Indies, is an experienced administrator who was formerly the boss of the Queensland Academy of Sport and is well qualified to take up the challenges ahead of him.
CA will have an important meeting with the Australian Cricketers Association on Friday where proposed changes to summer scheduling will be discussed.
CA has floated the idea of cutting the Sheffield Shield from 10 games to eight and abandon the final as well as slashing of several junior representative carnivals.
Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, the players have the right to review any proposed change to the schedule which could prove a potential stumbling block if they feel strong enough about preserving the status quo.
CA officials would have relished not to have to get changes rubber stamped by the players but are trapped by the document that makes the players a powerful force in the shaping of the summer.
Queensland hit hard as promised cuts claim big names
The spin bowling coach who helped Nathan Lyon to greatness and a former English cricket captain will be absent from the Queensland Cricket coaching system to be restructured in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Respected spin coach John Davison and Gold Coast-based former English captain Adam Hollioake, who had been guiding Queensland’s pathway systems, will not have their contracts renewed next summer in decisions made before 25 per cent cost cuts were ordered by Cricket Australia due to the virus-induced financial crisis.
They have been joined by Heat boss Andrew McShea and Queensland Cricket community manager John Stock, who this week took redundancies as part of the COVID-induced cost cuttings.
Former Australian players Andrew Bichel and James Hopes have held their spots as Bulls assistant coaches and will now have broader roles.
McShea had been with the Heat since the inception of the Big Bash and while the franchise has underperformed on the field, he had been lauded for off-field progress, including gathering a wide and passionate fan base.
Queensland and NSW are still yet to sign off on Cricket Australia’s demands for 25 per cent pay cuts but while NSW has the financial depth to avoid major cost cutting, Queensland is not similarly resourced.
Hollioake and Davison, a key man in Lyon’s remarkable development, had been working with Queensland under-17s and 19s.
It appears the under-19s may be the sole national under-age carnival to survive the cutbacks.
It is yet to be decided whether the Big Bash will be reduced in terms of numbers of games next season.
While there had been widespread calls for the competition to be reduced, there is also the conflicting theory that with the World T20 and Indian Test series under threat, the local tournament could be more important than ever.
When the Big Bash was originally launched it was announced that it provided Australia “with a significant revenue stream if there is any sudden turmoil in international cricket”.
That moment has arrived.
Virus financial fallout to hit Queensland hard
Queensland has become the latest state to feel the wrath of Australian cricket's cash crisis with emotional bosses telling staff redundancies are inevitable.
It had been widely rumoured NSW, Queensland and West Australia had submitted a raft of questions to Cricket Australia seeking more information before agreeing to the 25 per cent pay cuts the states have been asked to take in the wake of CA's financial capitulation during COVID-19.
But, as explained to Queensland Cricket staff in a Thursday morning staff meeting, the cuts are now inevitable and Queensland will follow South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania in culling staff.
Because the states are funded by CA in a “one team” model they are obliged to follow the instructions of head office but there remains widespread bewilderment and frustration at how cricket could end up in such a financial pickle when the virus hit so close to the end of the Australian season.
There is a feeling among some staff that Cricket Australia is catering for a worst-case scenario with the staff cuts but if giant drawcards India tour next summer that scenario won't arrive yet it will be too late to save the jobs of people culled in the crisis.
Cuts are expected throughout the entire QC business including high performance and senior staff will perform their duties with heavy hearts, especially since QC had made strong financial progress in recent seasons after many difficult years.
Bulls coach Wade Seccombe told News Corp last week that Shield cricket would go back in time “10 to 15 years” with less support staff and more reliance on players to be self-sufficient.
Cutback measures are likely in all interstate competitions including the Sheffield Shield which is likely to be pruned from 10 to eight games and no final.
Test batsman Joe Burns said he supported a 10-match season but appreciates the pressures created by the pandemic.
“I love the fact we have a strong first class system — the 10 games where we play everyone twice,” Burns said.
“You don't want to see that change but it is pretty unique circumstances at the moment so there are a lot of things to work through.”
Burns said he did not fear a change to eight games next season would be permanent.
“You look at next summer as being really unique circumstances. Any changes would be with a view of trying to nullify the risk around the financials of the game.
“Once the financials are in a really strong position I don't think there will be any need to make adjustments to save on costs.”
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Originally published as Queensland refuse to sign up for Cricket Australia pay cut demands but a key staff change is looming