JOHANNESBURG: Cricket South Africa (CSA) has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the country’s cricketers’ union, South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) which will be valid till 2022.
The MoU covers all the benefits and conditions of employment for all professional cricketers in South Africa including women’s and provincial cricketers for the first time in history.
It involves three separate comprehensive agreements being a Main Agreement, regulating player contract and related issues, a Commercial Rights Agreement, regulating the use of player commercial rights, and a Recognition Agreement, regulating the on-going relationship between CSA and SACA.
“From our side I would like to emphasize that we remain committed to a revenue share model,” commented CSA CEO Thabang Moroe.
“I am also delighted that we have extended the agreement to cover all professional players in South Africa, including senior provincial players and all our women professionals. There are now 317 players covered by this agreement.
“It (the new MoU) has left the door open for ourselves to sit and find a way to address the T20 competition and any other competitions should the franchise system change. We anticipate a change or growth as far as professional cricket is concerned,” Moroe told ESPNcricinfo.
“This document includes for the first time a recognition agreement between ourselves and CSA and also serves the commercial rights necessary for CSA’s commercial partners,” the SACA CEO told the cricket website.
“The agreement is particularly important in the context of where the game is going at international level. We have put the mechanisms and arrangements in place to retain our best players for the Proteas over the next four years.
The new MoU ends all speculation that Cricket South Africa was to reconsider the traditional revenue sharing model that it has been following over the year after the financial crunch that they have been suffering in the recent years. It is expected to curb player exodus to other countries and early retirements due to the lure of T20 leagues around the world, two major challenges that have haunted the board over the last few years.
