Cricket Australia Agree MOU with Australian Cricketers’ Association

June 22, 2012

Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) have today agreed to a new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The agreement – the longest deal ever struck between the two organisations – reinforces the partnership between Australian cricket and its players and reflects their common goal to strengthen Australian cricket. The MOU retains many aspects of the previous agreement but includes some significant changes.
Today’s agreement will allow CA to immediately move to finalise its annual contract list and will allow the State and Big Bash League (BBL) teams to follow suit.
Major aspects of the MOU include: Change in the players’ share of revenue model from a fixed 26% to a variable model where players will earn between 24.5-27% annually dependent on the performances of the Australian teams. Also increased retainers for CA and State players, including a 30% increase in the State retainer pool to compensate States for reduced national contracts, increased match fees for players at all levels.
ACA will also receive 26% of net 2015 World Cup revenues to help develop, with CA, a past player and game development legacy program.
CA Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland and ACA Chief Executive Officer Paul Marsh said each organisation believed the new MOU is a significant milestone for Australian cricket.
Mr Sutherland said it was important that for cricket to continue to be Australia’s favourite sport then it must be a sport of choice for talented young athletes – this objective needs to be supported by a high performance system that encourages and rewards talented cricketers who have the aspiration and hunger to play international cricket for Australia.
“We are pleased with the agreement we have reached with ACA. We all want Australian cricket teams to be successful and this agreement will greatly enhance the likelihood of success over the coming years.
“We believe that this agreement and its player payment model strikes a strong balance – players are well rewarded for playing senior representative cricket within a system that emphasises accountability for performance and ensures the right players are receiving the right payments at the right times,” he said.
Mr Marsh said the new agreement strengthened the successful partnership between the players, the ACA and Cricket Australia and provided significant outcomes for current, future and past players.
“After a challenging negotiation, the ACA is pleased to reach agreement with Cricket Australia on a new MOU that provides certainty for the players and the game for the next five years,” he said.
“The thing we are most excited about is that this new MOU provides excellent outcomes for not only our current players but also, through the 2015 Cricket World Cup revenues, a program that will significantly benefit our past players and Australian Cricket.
“The framework we’ve negotiated will also benefit future players and as such we believe it is the most comprehensive agreement the ACA and CA have ever negotiated.”

Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) have today agreed to a new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The agreement – the longest deal ever struck between the two organisations – reinforces the partnership between Australian cricket and its players and reflects their common goal to strengthen Australian cricket. The MOU retains many aspects of the previous agreement but includes some significant changes.

Today’s agreement will allow CA to immediately move to finalise its annual contract list and will allow the State and Big Bash League (BBL) teams to follow suit.

Major aspects of the MOU include: Change in the players’ share of revenue model from a fixed 26% to a variable model where players will earn between 24.5-27% annually dependent on the performances of the Australian teams. Also increased retainers for CA and State players, including a 30% increase in the State retainer pool to compensate States for reduced national contracts, increased match fees for players at all levels.

ACA will also receive 26% of net 2015 World Cup revenues to help develop, with CA, a past player and game development legacy program.

CA Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland and ACA Chief Executive Officer Paul Marsh said each organisation believed the new MOU is a significant milestone for Australian cricket.Mr Sutherland said it was important that for cricket to continue to be Australia’s favourite sport then it must be a sport of choice for talented young athletes – this objective needs to be supported by a high performance system that encourages and rewards talented cricketers who have the aspiration and hunger to play international cricket for Australia.

“We are pleased with the agreement we have reached with ACA. We all want Australian cricket teams to be successful and this agreement will greatly enhance the likelihood of success over the coming years.

“We believe that this agreement and its player payment model strikes a strong balance – players are well rewarded for playing senior representative cricket within a system that emphasises accountability for performance and ensures the right players are receiving the right payments at the right times,” he said.

Mr Marsh said the new agreement strengthened the successful partnership between the players, the ACA and Cricket Australia and provided significant outcomes for current, future and past players.

“After a challenging negotiation, the ACA is pleased to reach agreement with Cricket Australia on a new MOU that provides certainty for the players and the game for the next five years,” he said.

“The thing we are most excited about is that this new MOU provides excellent outcomes for not only our current players but also, through the 2015 Cricket World Cup revenues, a program that will significantly benefit our past players and Australian Cricket.

“The framework we’ve negotiated will also benefit future players and as such we believe it is the most comprehensive agreement the ACA and CA have ever negotiated.”