xtratime Logo

[caption id="attachment_48561" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Australian cricketers 'facing unemployment' over payments row. Image Source: twitter[/caption] Internet Desk: Over 200 Australian top cricketers will face unemployment from July 1st, for a pay dispute with Cricket Australia. Australia’s top cricketers will not get any money untill a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) is being signed between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA). The current agreement between the two will expire at the end of June. The President of ACA, Dyer told the players and the board remained “a long way apart” on fundamental issues and the association was preparing their members for ACA president Dyer said players and Cricket Australia remained "a long way apart" on basic issues and the union was preparing its members for unemployment. "It is extremely likely that as of July 1 we'll be jumping over the cliff together," Dyer told local media on Tuesday. "The fundamentals of the deal are nowhere near to being resolved. "Over 200 of Australia's most senior cricketers are unemployed as of the 1st of July. "We will be assisting in whatever way we possibly can in that but they're unemployed." At the heart of the dispute is a long-standing agreement that gives the players a fixed percentage of the revenue of the game, a deal which CA says prevents them from sufficiently investing in the grassroots. CA offered a revised deal on Friday but the union quickly rejected it. Unless the impasse ends, the upcoming Australia A tour of South Africa, a two-test series in Bangladesh and a limited-overs tour of India are under threat, with the Ashes also looming at the end of the year. CA has declined to comment on the negotiations but said in announcing its revised offer last week that it was "100 percent committed" to resolving the MoU by the deadline. Former Australia test opener Ed Cowan, who is contracted for New South Wales state, said players remained unified and resolute in their demands, and cast doubt on Steve Smith's test side boarding the plane for Bangladesh for the test series starting Aug. 27. "The next line in the sand is probably the tour of Bangladesh, do the players go on that late August? "My gut feeling is probably hit and miss for security reasons (and) MoU reasons."