Cricket’s history is littered with pay disputes and strikes. For well over a century the administrators always got their way because the players had little choice about where they played. That has all changed and Australia may be on the verge of a player revolt and administrative meltdown as serious as Kerry Packer’s World Series. At the heart of the dispute is Cricket Australia’s (CA’s) determination to change the memorandum of understanding it has had with the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) for the past 20 years in which the principle of a "fixed percentage" pay model has not changed. Australia’s professional cricketers receive 26% of CA’s annual revenue. The division thereafter is down to the ACA but there are two fundamental principles. The first is that an equal share in the good times and the bad makes players more responsible for their performance and behaviour. The second is that all players are included, not just the elite. CA’s controversial CE, James Sutherland, ...

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