Cricket Australia faces cash crunch: reports

It plans to lay off almost 80% of staff

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts has told staff that the governing body faces a financial crisis and would not have been able to pay its bills at the end of August without layoffs, local media reported on Saturday.

CA announced plans to lay off almost 80% of staff on Thursday, putting them on 20% pay until June 30 when it is hoped more will be known about how long government curbs will last.

Financial reserves hit

The Australian and The Age newspapers have reported that CA’s financial reserves had been hit by a slump in the world’s stock markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

No one at Cricket Australia was immediately available for comment on Saturday.

While, according to

The Australian , national team coach Justin Langer was informed on Friday that he was now a part-time employee, the players have not yet concluded negotiations over any wage losses they might suffer.

The players retained a revenue share model with Cricket Australia in their last negotiations over pay in 2017 and test captain Tim Paine said last month that he and his team mates were braced for cuts.