Preparations on despite dispute

There has been uneasiness in Bangladesh following the escalation of the pay dispute between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australia Cricketers' Association (ACA). The latest development of Australia's players boycotting this month's Australia A tour to South Africa added more worry on Thursday, with a two-Test Australian tour of Bangladesh scheduled next month in Dhaka and Chittagong.

But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has enough time on their hands before thinking anything negative about the two-match Test series. BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said yesterday that they were going ahead with their preparations for the tour. "As far as we are concerned, we have been preparing for the series, our players will join the camp as scheduled [July 10].  Australia are scheduled to arrive here in mid August, so it's not the time to comment [about the uncertainty]. The Australian inspection team will come here shortly. We are hopeful that they will come on schedule and there is no scope to think of any alternative,” Nizamuddin told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

Meanwhile, the ACA said the players were unavailable to tour South Africa for the Australia A team without an agreed pay deal or new Memorandum of Understanding, escalating a bitter pay dispute which threatens to derail senior tours to Bangladesh and India as well as this year's home Ashes.

"It is with great frustration that with no progress towards resolving the current dispute, Australia A players confirm they will not tour South Africa," ACA said in a statement.

"This decision is made in support of more than 200 male and female players who are now unemployed."

Cricket Australia (CA) said it was disappointed with the players' decision not to go on the A team tour of South Africa.

"CA regrets that players have made this decision despite progress made in talks between CA and the ACA in meetings over the past week, including regular communication between CEOs," it said in a statement.

"While a new MOU has not yet been agreed, CA is of the view that these talks should have enabled the tour to proceed as planned."

CA said it has advised Cricket South Africa of the players' decision.

The tour was to include four-day matches and a limited overs tri-series, also involving India A.

Australia A's squad of 19 for both formats included Test players Glenn Maxwell and Jackson Bird as well as Khawaja.

"By making this call, the Australia A players have sacrificed their own ambitions for the collective -- an incredibly selfless act that shows their strength and overall commitment to the group," the ACA said.

There are fears now that the pay row could scupper next month's Test tour to Bangladesh, the one-day international series in India in September and even the Ashes against England, which are due to begin with the first of five Tests in Brisbane in late November.

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

CA said it will continue to work towards a new MOU and called on the ACA to show "the flexibility clearly now needed to achieve that outcome."