Josh Hazlewood Says Australian Players Are Ready To Take Pay Cuts

Australia’s fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has said that the Australian cricketers are ready to take the pay cuts if the board isn’t in a stable state right now. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has brought great loss to the entire sports community. With all the sporting events all across the world coming to a halt in the wake of the virus, the sports spectrum has suffered a great deal economically as well.

Cricket Australia (CA) said last week it planned to furlough almost 80% of its staff, putting them on 20% pay until June 30 when it is hoped more information will be available on how long government curbs to control the new coronavirus will last.

Although Josh Hazlewood has expressed amazement at Cricket Australia’s financial status, he has affirmed that the Australian players are ready to take pay cuts if required.

Josh Hazlewood Says Australian Players Are Ready To Take Pay Cuts

“It probably took me a little bit by surprise just due to the fact that it’s happened at a perfect time, this pandemic, for Cricket Australia,” Hazlewood told reporters on a video conference on Monday. “We’re obviously partners in the game and we’ve always said that. We’ve ridden the highs and now it’s time to ride the lows. We’ll see what it comes to and we’ll obviously play our part,” Hazlewood added.

CA has been criticised in the media following reports over the weekend that its financial reserves had been hit by a slump in global stock markets due to the pandemic.

Josh Hazlewood Expects Transparency From Cricket Australia

Hazlewood said relations between CA and the national players’ union were on a far better footing than three years ago during acrimonious negotiations over a new pay deal.

“That will go a long way to go toward this episode going a lot better than last time,” he said.

“Hopefully it’s a lot better communication and I think we’ll see that in the coming weeks, coming months. As long as (CA) (show) a lot of transparency on all the numbers, all the players will be pretty happy with that … to see exactly where we’re situated at the present and moving forward,” he added.

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