Cricket: Cancelled tour means pay cut for stars

New Zealand's elite cricketers may be forced to accept pay cuts as a result of Sri Lanka's withdrawal.

The Sri Lankans yesterday left Auckland for Colombo after deciding to abandon the tour in the wake of the devastation caused at home by the Boxing Day tsunamis.

Their departure leaves a gaping hole in New Zealand's international home season, and is almost certain to result in less cash for contracted players at all levels.

But the effect is likely to be felt mostly by New Zealand's international players, who will miss out on the match fees and bonuses associated with the Sri Lankan visit, and will be almost certainly exposed to a cut in their annual pay.

The possibility has arisen because, under the 2002 agreement between New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association, each year's payment pool is calculated at 23 per cent of turnover.

That means NZC's payment pool is likely to take a hit from this year's difficulties, as half the summer's income-generating activities have been cancelled, and losses have been described as "inevitable".

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said yesterday the Sri Lankan tour had been partly insured in terms of gate takings, although he was not sure about the exact extent of the cover and his organisation's entitlements.

However, he confirmed that NZC was expecting to incur substantial losses as a result of cancellation, given the various stakeholders - sponsors, hotels, airlines, television and radio rights - involved.

"It's too early to talk about a financial result, but I think it's fair to suggest this will mean an overall setback. Whatever contingencies might be organised, we're still going to take a hit."

Players' association spokesman Heath Mills said yesterday that he would not like to speculate about the ramifications of the abandoned tour, but it was correct that the players' incomes were directly linked to NZC's financial performance.

Ironically, the percentage-of-turnover threshold had been the main stumbling point in a protracted standoff between the parties in 2002.

"To be honest, I'd be surprised if NZC weren't able to minimise the effects by spreading them across their organisation," Mills said. "But I think it's too early to speculate about the financial impact on players."

He also revealed that the agreement comes up for renewal next year, and that the players' association would almost certainly push for a higher level, more in line with Australia's 25 per cent mark.

Mills said his group intended to begin fresh negotiations with NZC in June or July next year, and was confident that a satisfactory solution would be hammered out to everyone's mutual benefit.

The players' association was also joining forces with NZC in an attempt to promote the idea of a charity match between an Asian XI and a Rest of the World team this month.

Snedden said NZC had lent every assistance to the cause, including making players available and offering to host the match or matches, although he felt the likely venue would probably be in Australia.

He said NZC strongly supported the idea of using cricket as a vehicle for fundraising over summer, and had joined forces with World Vision on a number of initiatives. These included:

* Providing World Vision access to NZC websites - some of the busiest in the country - for fundraising appeals.

* Donating $1 from every ticket sold to the first men's international Twenty20 match against Australia in Auckland on February 17 to tsunami relief.

* The New Zealand players will donate their signed, match-day shirts from the Twenty20 match for a fundraising auction (eighties-style playing shirts will be produced especially for this match.)

* The sponsor of the New Zealand team and NZC's international home series, the National Bank, will be involved in a number of NZC fundraising activities.

* NZC's ticketing partner, Ticketek, will donate its share of the service fee on all the tickets for the unplayed matches against Sri Lanka directly to the World Vision fund.

* NZC's apparel supplier and partner, Wstar, will donate a portion of the sale price of all products sold at grounds during the coming tour by Australia to World Vision.