Darren Lehmann doubts Cricket Australia pay row will lead to Ashes boycott

Disruptions: Lehmann fears Australia's Champions Trophy preparation will be hit
Getty Images
Jonathan Hunn18 May 2017

Darren Lehmann does not believe the ongoing pay dispute between Cricket Australia and senior players will lead to an Ashes boycott — but says it could disrupt their Champions Trophy preparations.

The governing body are seeking to replace existing revenue-sharing deals with new contracts — a move that has left senior players unimpressed.

Vice-captain David Warner has been the leading dissenter and warned Australia “might not have a team for the Ashes” after hinting the players could go on strike.

But coach Lehmann does not expect this winter’s battle with England to be affected, saying: “I’m sure that won’t happen. I think both parties have just got to get talking.

“They’ll get a deal done and, once that happens, everyone will be right and we’ll get the game going the way it should be.

“It’s just about communication and getting the right outcome for both parties — that’s going to be the key thing.”

But Lehmann does concede that Australia’s preparations for the 50-over Champions Trophy tournament, starting in England next month, could be affected.

They play their first warm-up game against Sri Lanka tomorrow week and Lehmann wants his side to focus on events on the field.

“For us, it’s about concentrating on the game,” he added. “There’s going to be discussions, that’s the natural way from a players’ point of view and CA’s point of view — and it’s playing out in the media. We’ll talk about it and move forward.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in