Cricket Australia cuts top player pool payments after revenue shortfall

SYDNEY - Cricket Australia has decided to cut pool payments to the nation’s top cricketers after a 16million dollars shortfall in projected revenue this summer.

Cricket Australia’s general manager of finance and business services, Kate Banozic, sent a letter to its 180 players during the week informing them of the decision.

Banozic conceded the letter did not bear “great news” but stressed CA wasn’t the only organisation having a tough time,” The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“Whilst this isn’t great news to have to deliver to players, it is important to note we are currently in difficult financial times and cricket is not immune from these,” she wrote.

Under terms of an agreement between CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association, players are entitled to 26 percent of Australian cricket revenue.

However, CA public affairs manager Peter Young said there were reasons for 2010-11’s projected earnings falling short.

“The gate hasn’t been what we expected. You might recall last year we had West Indies and Pakistan, and the public didn’t engage with those series as they have the imminent series,” he said.

“Currency exchange rates have had an effect, and the ICC World Cup dividend was lower than we projected. I believe the reason for that was the World Cup operating costs ended up greater than [the projections],” he added.

ACA president Paul Marsh told The Sun-Herald the result did not mean there was a financial crisis in the sport; it simply came from the need to make a long-range forecast. (ANI)