Merv Hughes: Payment issues between players and Cricket Australia will resolve soon

The 55-year old considers the on-going standoff is nothing but raging bulls pawing the ground before the combat.

Former Australian pacer Merv Hughes believes the tussle between the players and Cricket Australia (CA) over the players’ payments will resolve soon once both the parties are open to negotiations. The 55-year old considers the on-going standoff is nothing but raging bulls pawing the ground before the combat. The players’ union called CA to mediate over intractable wage negotiations instead of threatening not to pay their stars. Earlier in the month of May, the CA threatened not to pay contracted players beyond June 30 unless the proposed remuneration overhaul was accepted.

This issue saw getting fired up with Australia’s vice-captain David Warner declared that the team were prepared to not play any tournament further to make up financial losses if pushed out of contract after June 30, when Cricket Australia (CA) has threatened to stop payments. But, the veteran pacer believes it to be only a matter of time before both parties start formal talks.

According to cricket.com.au, Hughes was quoted saying, “As we go to the Champions Trophy, it’s got to be a distraction for them because they (the players) don’t know where they sit.”

“It affects them. They’ve got a vested interest, so are their thoughts 100 per cent on the cricket? I wouldn’t have thought so, and that’s going to diminish our performance in the Champions Trophy.”

“But I think going forward it’s going to bring the players closer together. The thing that I hope is that it doesn’t split the players’ association from Cricket Australia because they need each other to be successful. Let’s face it, the players are the biggest assets that Cricket Australia have got and they’ve got to look after them.”

Reportedly, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) Chief Executive Alistair Nicholson was in UK last week for a meeting of the international players’ union (FICA) and updated members of Steve Smith’s team on the ongoing stalemate with Cricket Australia.

Apparently, CA have presented the Smith-led Australian team with a video infographic about their MOU proposal. It is also expected that CA Chief Executive James Sutherland will be travelling to England on June 19 to attend the ICC annual conference wherein formal talks should happen regarding the issue.

Since the month of May, both CA and ACA have rejected each other’s proposal twice. The ACA has asked CA to appoint an independent mediator to resolve the issue ASAP.

“We’ve still got four weeks until it has to come to a head, I think you’ll find it’ll move fairly quickly (from here). When it comes to the nitty-gritty, they’re going to sit down and talk and they’ll sort things out. In any negotiation, no side wants to show weakness. If you take the first backward step, that’s a sign of weakness and Cricket Australia aren’t going to do that and the (ACA) aren’t going to do that.”

“When the dust settles, I think it’ll progress pretty quickly and I’m confident it’ll sort itself out.”

Hughes represented Australia 53 Tests from 1985 to 1994 taking 212 wickets. He also played 33 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) taking 38 wickets.