BBL, WBBL contracting delay should’ve been resolved by now, admits Greenberg

Darwin, Aug 14 (IANS) Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has admitted that the ongoing contract delays in the Big Bash League (BBL) and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) should have been resolved earlier, as negotiations with the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) are still in a deadlock over revenue-sharing models.

With barely two months remaining before the WBBL season kicks off, franchises are unable to finalise their squads due to an embargo triggered by the delay in signing a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Add to it, several Big Bash League players have voiced frustration at earning significantly less than overseas recruits in recent seasons, with their pay packets falling well short of global market rates offered in competitions such as the SA20 and ILT20 – a disparity attributed to the overseas draft.

“We’ve got to unlock the contracting system pretty quickly. I think there’s some final conversations going on at the moment, but yeah, we should have resolved it by now, so we’ve got to get moving. We’ve got a big season to run. We want to be as successful as we can,” Greenberg was quoted as saying by Cricinfo, on the sidelines of the ongoing first Test between Australia and Bangladesh.

Greenberg revealed he held talks with ACA counterpart Paul Marsh on Wednesday, but both parties remain divided. The ACA has demanded an increase in the players’ current 27.5 percent revenue share from the league – a proposal CA has firmly rejected.

“We’re just at a fundamental difference at the moment. Australian cricket are strong believers and supporters of the revenue share model. I think it’s been great for cricket. It’s great for the players.

“What we’re not supportive of is increasing the amount of percentage (share) that is. And so the ACA have put forward a proposal which increases it, and we’ve rejected that one. So we’ve got to find a way to get an outcome that’s palatable for the ACA and palatable for us,” he added.

The impasse also impacts CA’s plans to sell stakes in BBL clubs to private investors, a move state associations have requested be linked to a finalized ACA agreement. “I’m feeling both comfortable and positive. Yesterday was an important moment for the board to get the latest update. I would suggest that by early to mid-September we will effectively make a final determination on the project.”

“Mike and I have got sessions with the boards of both New South Wales Cricket and Queensland Cricket in the next few weeks, and we want to have those conversations, and we want to have them in person before we go back to the board in September to make a final call,” concluded Greenberg.

–IANS

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