More Australian Cricketers Are Lining Up To Stick It To The Man

Australia's leading cricket players are readying themselves for unprecedented strike action over a pay dispute between the game's administrator, Cricket Australia (CA), and the player's union, known as the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA).

Australian wicketkeeper, Mathew Wade, is the latest big name to pledge solidarity with the union, telling SEN Radio, "Hopefully it gets resolved, we don't want to be unemployed for a period of time."

"But if it gets there we'll have to do what it takes.

"We'll fall into line with what the big dogs do. The senior players will kind of direct us on which way to go," he said.

The administrator, Cricket Australia, is demanding players give up the 26% share of all revenue generated by cricket annually in Australia in exchange for a $500 million total player payment pool.

The original 26% revenue sharing model was negotiated in a similarly tense stand off 20 years ago. Australia's leading cricketers and their union are refusing to budge in a bid to secure a boost in funding for grass roots cricket along with fledgling women's professional competitions.

Wade's comments followed a series of tweets earlier in the week from leading Australian wicket taker, Mitchell Starc, fellow quick Pat Cummins and batsmen, Moises Henriques, who all pledged their solidarity with the union.

Leading batsmen, David Warner, retweeted their messages while skipper Steve Smith reiterated his support for the player union last month when he said, "The playing group are fully supportive of the ACA."

The stalled pay negotiations are disrupting plans for several teams and upcoming fixtures, including this summer's Ashes Series, which at least one leading Australian player has warned could be played without any of the country's top talent.

The negotiations had remained at an impasse for six months though reached a flashpoint earlier in the week following a threatening email from Cricket Australia CEO, James Sutherland, in which he demanded players agree to his proposed revenue sharing deal or face unemployment.

The move backfired, serving only to consolidate solidarity among players and their union.

The union also claim there is a major discrepancy between the amount of revenue being generated by the game and what Cricket Australia says is being generated.

They claim around $AUD 400 million is missing from the five-year period since the last MoU agreement was signed and have called for an audit of Cricket Australia's finances.

Even a fraction of that would easily lift the women's game into full-paid professionalism.

Leading Australian female cricketers, such as NSW and Australian fast-bowler, Lauren Cheatle, told Vice Sports the players are united.

"We know that we're fighting for our rights as female players and the men are right behind that so we're really happy about that," she said.