Thaindian News

Melbourne, Dec.14 (ANI): Cricket Australia is expecting to turnover more than a billion dollars in the next four years, but added that player pay rises would not be automatic.
New Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke said payments to Australia’’s elite players had to be weighed against the cost of many other areas that promote, sustain and develop the game.
He also suggested a major push to recruit indigenous players - to develop role models such as Maurice Rioli, Michael Long and Andrew McLeod in the AFL - would be a priority investment.
He said elite players “are a major component of CA, because so much hangs off them”, but that slicing up the financial pie was never easy.
The Australian Cricketers Association and CA begin talks next week over a new deal.
The ACA is expected to ask for a greater share of overall revenue, which has escalated in recent years because of lucrative television deals and the rise of Twenty20 cricket.
The players have expressed concern over the increasing number of public and sponsor appearances - up to 22 a year - they have to fulfill under their CA contracts, Fox Sports reports.
Australia’’s players are currently the highest paid in the world, and it remains to be seen if they would accept a pay cut for less work. It is expected the players will ask for a bigger cut of their 25 per cent share of the revenue pie.
But Clarke said although the international players were entitled to stake a claim, they were only one aspect of the board’’s business.
“We have 568,000 players in Australia, and we plan to boost that to 750,000 by 2013,” he said.
“CA is responsible for paying the elite, but equally it has so many other areas to consider when slicing the pie. (ANI)