Cricket: Sport's budget under impossible pressure

By RICHARD BOOCK

Whatever else happens, it seems certain that New Zealand's six major associations will face crippling funding shortages should the players' demands for a 60 per cent pay increase succeed.

At a time when all six main provincial associations depend heavily on central funding, the players have gone on strike until their pay demands are met, boycotting the annual spring training tournament in Christchurch.

A three-day crisis meeting began yesterday between the three main parties, New Zealand Cricket (represented by chief executive Martin Snedden and lawyer Rob Davidson), the major associations (Wellington and Canterbury bosses Erv McSweeney and Richard Reid) and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association spokesmen, Heath Mills and Rob Nichol.

While the usual player association line holds that the employer should simply reprioritise expenditure to accommodate the pay rises, it appears NZC has few options, and the six majors have even fewer.

All of the main provinces rely on handouts from Christchurch these days, mainly because the international cricket programme has cornered the money market and left domestic stakeholders fighting for the crumbs.

If the association were to win its demands for what is rumoured to be a $2.8 million increase in the player-payment pool, the provinces would face inevitable cutbacks to an already overstretched operation. Auckland, which receives about a third of its funding from NZC, would be the best placed of the majors to remain viable, but the remainder would almost certainly be forced to retrench.

The development could have particularly damaging consequences for Otago, which already depends on NZC for more than half its budget.

Unlike NZC, the majors devote far more of their resources to grassroots and development programmes, areas which have already been singled out as being the most likely to suffer if the players should get their way.

NZC apparently paid out a whopping $4.6 million to its players last year.

But the Herald understands the latest demands include increases of $1.2 million for the domestic players, and a further $1.2 million for the smaller group of internationals.