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'Bullish' parties will settle MOU: Hughes

Victorian believes the ongoing pay dispute will take shape quickly once negotiations begin

Former Test firebrand Merv Hughes has likened the current stand-off over player payments to a pair of bulls pawing the ground prior to combat, and claimed negotiations were "likely to move fairly quickly" once the two parties formally begin talks.

Hughes, who played 53 Tests and 33 one-day internationals between 1985 and 1994 but retired before the landmark first MOU was struck 20 years ago, also believes the ongoing dispute will be a factor in the current Australia team's ICC Champions Trophy campaign in the UK.

The 55-year-old, who also served as a national selector from 2005 to 2010, said today that the proximity of the deadline for a deal to be struck (with the current five-year MOU to expire on June 30) meant players' on-field performances were likely to be impacted by the off-field debate.

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Australian Cricketers' Association Chief Executive Alistair Nicholson was in the UK last week for a meeting of the international players' union (FICA), and updated members of Steve Smith's team on the ongoing stalemate with Cricket Australia.

CA wrote to the players last week to present a video and an infographic of their MOU proposal, and Chief Executive James Sutherland will travel to England later this month to attend the ICC annual conference which begins in London on June 19.

The day after the Champions Trophy Final is scheduled for Lord's.

"As we go to the Champions Trophy, it's got to be a distraction for them because they (the players) don't know where they sit," Hughes told cricket.com.au today.

"It affects them.

"They've got a vested interest, so are their thoughts 100 per cent on the cricket?

"I wouldn't have thought so, and that's going to diminish our performance in the Champions Trophy.

"But I think going forward it's going to bring the players closer together.

"The thing that I hope is that it doesn't split the players’ association from Cricket Australia because they need each other to be successful. 

"Let's face it, the players are the biggest assets that Cricket Australia have got and they've got to look after them."

Kevin Roberts on the Memorandum of Understanding

Despite there being less than four weeks until the current MOU lapses, and with negotiations over the 600-plus pages of items detailed in the contract that covers all aspects of the professional cricketers' employment yet to start, Hughes believes a resolution will be found.

Both the ACA and CA have presented proposals that have been rejected by the rival party, and CA have called for the union to begin formal negotiations "in good faith" while the ACA have twice requested that an independent mediator be appointed to move the process forward.

A call that CA has twice rejected, claiming it would be "extraordinary" for a mediator to be engaged before any genuine negotiations had taken place.

"It's still early days," Hughes said of the deadlock.

"To me, it's still two bulls sitting in a paddock kicking up dust.

"When they get fair dinkum, they're going to sit down and talk.

"We've still got four weeks until it has to come to a head, I think you'll find it'll move fairly quickly (from here).

"When it comes to the nitty-gritty, they're going to sit down and talk and they'll sort things out.

"In any negotiation, no side wants to show weakness.

"If you take the first backward step, that's a sign of weakness and Cricket Australia aren't going to do that and the (ACA) aren't going to do that.

"When the dust settles, I think it'll progress pretty quickly and I'm confident it'll sort itself out."


Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation


Schedule


1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India beat Pakistan by 124 runs

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)