A WEEK after we revealed Australian cricket was in crisis, the nation’s top players will have their pool payments cut after a $16million shortfall in projected revenue this summer.Kate Banozic, Cricket Australia’s general manager of finance and business services, sent a letter – obtained by The Sun-Herald – 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.
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‘‘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 26per cent 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,’’ he said. ‘‘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.
‘‘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].’’
