October 24 Thursday 2002
If players perform, they'll be better off: Snedden

WELLINGTON: If players perform for New Zealand they will be better off financially under payment system offered by New Zealand Cricket in pay talks with national Cricket Players' Association. 

That was the message Wednesday from New Zealand Cricket's (NZC) chief executive Martin Snedden in response to claims that NZC wasn't being reasonable in what it was offering the players. He said it had been frustrating not to receive a response from Players' Association to the offer when talks were held in Wellington Tuesday. 

Players' Association said they will respond to offer by Monday, and despite the fact it is a public holiday both parties agreed it was necessary for response to be made then in order for talks to resume on Wednesday. Snedden said he thought it was a bit much for Players' Association to be expecting NZC to be paying costs of the Association not only for this round of negotiations but into future as well. 

The demand is part of Players' Association bargaining document. Just because Australian Cricket Board and New Zealand Rugby Football Union paid for their players' committees, Snedden said he didn't agree with the principle. "I have suggested the players should have a clear understanding of this issue." 

The cost to NZC of paying for Players' Association was estimated to be around $300,000. Snedden said while yesterday's meeting had resolved "a whole lot of secondary issues" he was disappointed that NZC bargaining team had been given no indication of where Players' Association stood on key issues. 

"Until we get their offer I don't know what progress we can make on those issues," he said. "The players' association raised our expectations with their comments on Monday but then that didn't happen," he said. 

Snedden denied that concerns of New Zealand's leading players were not being addressed. "New Zealand Cricket is well aware of how important the key players are to New Zealand cricket," he said. 

NZC had a constitutional requirement to foster cricket in New Zealand across the board and felt 75-80% of resources that went into elite aspects of the game was about the right figure. 

"All different groups in New Zealand cricket are entitled to be respected," he said. "Everyone knows we have limited funding. We don't pay top dollar because we can't. "Australia, England and India are well out in front of rest of the world for obvious reasons," he said when referring to greater financial resources of those countries. 

While withdrawal of players' services for October was nearing an end, Snedden said it was too early to be talking deadlines for decisions to be made. He said he had not been surprised the process was taking some time to resolve. Players' associations, a concept he supports, have been using their muscle increasingly around the world and dispute was a natural consequence of process when participants were so far apart in their views. He said he had been keeping all of NZC's major commercial partners in touch with what was happening and they had "universally confirmed their support for NZC." 

Meanwhile, Snedden said interests of women's cricket were not a factor in Players' Association concerns. Women's cricket around the world was an amateur game. "In New Zealand we in fact have best professional set-up in the world for women's cricket. "We don't make any player payments in women's game and have never been asked by them to get involved in a players' association," he said.