Lesson for Lankan cricketers in Aussie cricketers’ pay dispute
Did our players miss the cue?
The head of Sri Lanka Cricketer’s Association, Ken de Alwis, has thrown his weight behind Australian cricketers’ stance in their dispute with Cricket Australia, describing their stance as commendable.
He said he felt that down the line Sri Lanka’s cricketers had missed the cue almost five years ago.
The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (to which SLCA is an affiliate) members extended their support to the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA). Some 230 professional cricketers, whom ACA represents had been rendered unemployed following the ending of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the players and Cricket Australia (CA) and the failure of CA to negotiate a new agreement with the ACA based on the same partnership principles of the previous MOU.
FICA is concerned with CA’s desire to end the percentage revenue sharing model that has so successfully underpinned the partnership between the players and administrators in Australia for twenty years. The model has not only been hugely successful for Australian cricket but has been a model of best practice adopted by associations in cricket and other sports, worldwide.
De Alwis pointed out that way back in 2011 our own cricketers missed the cue as they failed to stay united and let the then cricket authorities make certain changes in the cricketers’ central cricket contracts. Now they have a mounting problem with the situation that has arisen because of player managers taking the centre stage.
“We the Players Association from 2002 looked after the welfare of the national cricketers until 2011 and that was done with all players acting as as one unit, rather than units of player managers doing that job. We were senior cricketers who had been in the game and we knew what it was all about!
“I think our cricketers were not strong enough at that time unlike the present Australian cricketers and how powerful they are as a unit. When the seniors are strong it also helps the others down the line. The Australian authorities are trying to divide and rule, but the Australian cricketers are holding out as a unit. Yet, in Sri Lanka our cricket authorities have manipulated the situation very cleverly.
“What we want here is to develop cricket and not develop individual cricketers. If they stood steadfastly today there would have been a different scenario for local cricketers. There would be no manipulations and the cricket board wouldn’t have been so dominant. What they do not understand is that without the cricketers, Sri Lanka Cricket in nothing. It is because of the athletes that the Associations function and not the other way around.”
(Also see ST II page 21 for full report in Sunday Musings)