Cricket Australia is Offering a Very Fair Deal for Players Gilchrist

Cricket Australia is Offering a Very Fair Deal for Players Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist, the legendary Australian wicket-keeper, believes Cricket Australia (CA) is offering a "very fair deal" to its players as the pay dispute continues to fester ahead of the June 30 deadline.

In the backdrop of the Champions Trophy, negotiations between CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) continue to stonewall with disenchanted players publically saying they will seek other employment opportunities from July 1 if a deal is not struck.

The sticking point in the dispute centres on CA's desire to overhaul the current revenue-sharing system that has been at the core of the Memorandum of Understanding for the past two decades. However, Gilchrist believed CA's proposal had merit.

"I think Cricket Australia are offering a very, very fair deal for players," Gilchrist told Fox Sports on Tuesday (June 6). "No one's going to go without and everyone's growing and increasing. I do hope that they're (players) thinking of the cricketer at the most important level, and that is the kid signing on for his first year.

"Because grassroots cricket is under siege from other sports, like the various footy codes," he added.

There is uncertainty of what the future holds if a deal can't be struck with cricketers threatening to boycott playing for their country, leaving Australia's proposed tour of Bangladesh in August and the Ashes in jeopardy.

Gilchrist, who played 96 Tests from 1999-2008, was confident a deal was forthcoming. "There will be an end to it. I wouldn't be surprised if they've been meeting in the last few days - the players' association and the board," he said. "I think both sides are going to have to compromise. Having spoken to people in both parties, I think they're both starting to say that and understand that."