South African cricketers under contract threat

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s cricketers are almost certain to be out of contract within the next two weeks as the size of the chasm between Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) on a new Memorandum of Understanding became clear on Thursday.

With the current MoU set to expire on April 30, CSA released a statement on Wednesday evening that suggested a new agreement could only be in place by July. The governing body added that existing contracts could be extended until a new agreement was in place, but that idea was shot down by SACA in a scathing statement that outlined just how far apart the two bodies currently are.

Barring a late intervention, South African cricket now looks set to walk into the same crisis that befell Australia last year, when Cricket Australia’s determination to scrap the revenue-share model was met by stubborn resistance from its players. Although players were only out of contract for a matter of weeks before CA backed down and a new MoU incorporating revenue sharing was forged, the battle left lingering tension between administrators and players. That tension is already apparent in South Africa after SACA responded to a contradictory statement by CSA’s acting chief executive Thabang Moroe. Although Moroe started by saying that there would be “no fundamental change in the underlying relationships between CSA and SACA”, he went on to add: “It is rather the intention to restructure these relationships that cover the employer/employee relationship, the collective bargaining relationship and the commercial relationship so that all of these relationships are regulated under separate agreements.”

The mention of the “employer/employee relationship” had echoes of Moroe’s comments in a media briefing in December when he suggested that SACA should be seen more as a labour union than a partner in cricket. CA held a similar belief before they were forced to retreat in their own negotiations.

SACA had been bracing themselves for a similar battle in the wake of Moroe’s December comments, and are understood to have been frustrated by CSA’s lack of engagement on the MoU issue this year. The document generally takes months to conclude given that it covers a wide array of issues, from contract details to revenue share and the way that the two parties do business.

“We are both surprised and disappointed that CSA has seen fit to make a public statement announcing plans relating to the MoU without giving us any proper opportunity to respond to, or to deal with, these first,” Tony Irish, SACA’s chief executive, said in response to CSA’s statement. “The suggested plans have caused consternation amongst players and they require a response from SACA. The indication of further possible delays and the unworkability of certain aspects of what is being suggested are particular matters of concern to us. The suggestion also that there have actually been negotiations conducted by SACA officials with CSA on the MoU to date is also not correct. Negotiations on the key elements have yet to start. “SACA has been doing everything possible from its side for approximately three months to engage with CSA on the MoU and to deal with the key elements to enable player contracts to be finalised well in advance of 30th April 2018, being the date on which the majority of player contracts end.