England to support Australia in the pay dispute

The England team is currently playing a four-match Test series against South Africa at home. They have already won the ODI series 2-1 and T20 series 2-1. Australian cricketers are having a tough time as they are without a work contract. Their previous contracts expired on June 30 and there is no agreement on the new MoU. Currently, more than 230 Aussie cricketers are unemployed.

England team will not travel to Australia to play the Ashes unless a deal is agreed upon between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association. Although the Ashes is scheduled to start on November 23, England are due to fly to Australia at the end of October and an England Cricket Board (ECB) spokesman confirmed they would not travel unless they are assured of the necessary warm-up games before the Test series.

Recently, Australian cricketers decided to boycott Australia A’s imminent tour to South Africa as a result of the pay dispute between CA and ACA.

ECB remains confident

While the ECB remains confident that the Ashes will go ahead, they recognise the significant divide that currently exists between CA and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) and have noted with some unease the decision of players to withdraw from the Australia A tour to South Africa.

The real deadline for an ECB decision over Ashes might come around mid-October, when England Women are scheduled to fly to Australia for a tour that includes an Ashes Test and begins with an ODI in Brisbane on October 22. Unless matters in Australia are resolved by then, it is possible that the ECB will take the decision to cancel both tours and recoup what costs they can. However, the legal and financial consequences would be enormous.

Cricket Australia’s views

Greg Hunt, the federal minister for sport, has indicated that the Australian government would be prepared to step in the row dragged on long enough to threaten the Ashes. In response to the ECB comments, a CA spokesman said, “We are 100% confident that the Ashes will go ahead”, as quoted by “The Daily Star”.

The Australian tour of Bangladesh, scheduled to begin in mid-August, looks particularly precarious, with a limited over tour of India to follow it.