This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Frustrated and unemployed Australian cricketers will hold crisis talks in Sydney on Sunday after the ongoing pay spat plunged to an unprecedented low.

The brinkmanship building between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) for months finally ignited on Friday, when it was confirmed 230 players would become unemployed the following day.

Warnings of player exodus with no end to Australian cricket pay dispute in sight Read more

“This may place significant financial and emotional strain on them [players] and their families,” CA noted in a statement. “It is unfortunate that the ACA’s hardline and inflexible position has not been conducive to delivering any positive outcomes or certainty for players.”

ACA president Greg Dyer fired back two hours later.

“Reasonable young men and women have been set upon by their employer with tactics not seen before in Australian sport,” Dyer said. “It’s quite incredible. It’s been a case of divide and rule from the start and when that failed the threats started and haven’t stopped.”

The ACA noted in a statement the game is in the “worst state of uncertainty since the days of World Series Cricket”.

CA has paid the women’s World Cup squad in advance for the entire tournament, so the most pressing series at risk is next month’s Australia A trip to South Africa. Players were set to assemble in Brisbane for training on Monday but a tour boycott is now on the cards.

The tour will be one of many topics discussed when players meet on Sunday.

The governing body and union remain deadlocked over the issue of revenue sharing. There were hopes CA boss James Sutherland, who recently returned home from England, could broker a last-minute temporary solution that would save the sport a degree of ignominy.

But Sutherland didn’t involve himself directly in the scrap on Friday, when the relationship between players and CA remained frosty.

“It’s [pay talks] never got to this point before in the past. It’s going to leave a bit of a bitter taste,” star paceman Josh Hazlewood said in a video released by the ACA on Friday. “We are obviously willing to do what we need to.”

The right-armer also clipped CA officials for attempting to sign him and other stars on individual contracts earlier this year.

“It was a bit of a shock. Just the way it came about, they said they weren’t going to offer contracts until the MoU had been finalised,” he said. “That was a bit disappointing.”

This summer’s Ashes will be at threat if the situation is not advanced before November. CA has warned players they risk six-month suspensions if they take part in unsanctioned exhibition games.