Jul 1st, 2017

Jul 1st, 2017

The nation’s top cricketers will meet this morning and decide whether to go on strike, which would be a first in the game’s history.

The players are said to be fuming over pay talks breaking down with Cricket Australia.

The Australian Cricketer’s Association will hold an emergency meeting in Sydney this morning with national captain Steve Smith dialling in from New York.

The ACA likened the rancorous split in Australian cricket as the worst since the tempestuous days of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket revolution of the 1970s.

Among the issues that will be canvassed at today's meeting will be the availability of players for the Australia A tour to South Africa scheduled to begin on July 8, the ACA said and the employment rights for the more than 200 players now out of contract and unemployed as of Saturday.

ACA Chief Executive Alistair Nicholson said the union had planned for the possibility that no deal would be reached and had put in place a number of measures to deal with the associated contingencies.

Among them have been the establishment of a players' support fund to lend direct financial assistance to those out-of-contract men and women.

Nicholson said the availability of players for the upcoming Australia A Tour of South Africa would also be discussed at the meeting.

Meantime, the players have taken to social media to express their displeasure with Cricket Australia.

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja posted this cheeky message on Instagram, poking fun at the fact that he's now technically unemployed.

He posted a picture on Instagram of him searching job site Seek for jobs as a “Cover driver” on “very flat wickets.”

Australia vice-captain David Warner went on twitter to take another shot at Cricket Australia.

The Australia vice captain also expressed his appreciation to those who supported the players, saying "Thanks to our fans for all your support. You can now see firsthand what we have to deal with. #fairshare," the 30-year-old wrote.

He then went on Instagram and shared this: "I may be unemployed but I still have the support and backing from this amazing lady.

"Family is everything to me. I thought the same about my old workplace but I guess I was wrong. #thebull #fairshare."

Leading fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said the breakdown in pay negotiations has left a bitter taste with the players, adding "we are, obviously, willing to do what we need to."

The players' union said it will meet in Sydney on Sunday to discuss a more detailed response to the contract standoff.

Hazlewood said waking up effectively unemployed on Saturday was "a different feel".

"To be contracted for the best part of 10 years, nearly for me, it's going to be a different stage and we'll see how it pans out," Hazlewood told Fairfax Media.

Along with the players, fixtures are also at risk including Australia's Test tour to Bangladesh from August, the one-day international series in India in September and the home Ashes series against England later this year.

CA and the players' union have hit an impasse after the board attempted to scrap the 20-year-old arrangement of giving players a fixed share of revenues, in favour of dividing surpluses amongst elite players and offering a pay rise.

Following the missed deadline, players who are on multi-year contracts that go beyond June 30 will continue to be paid, and will be required to play and train as before.

Players were due to assemble in Brisbane for training on Monday ahead of the South Africa trip. The first tour match is supposed to start on July 12.

Australia's women's team are currently competing in the World Cup in England, but they have a special contract that will run until the tournament is complete.

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©AFP2017