Warner's Ashes warning to Cricket Australia

Photo: AFP

New Delhi: The ongoing pay dispute might leave Australia without their top players in the Ashes series Down Under later this year, vice-captain David Warner has warned.

Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) rejected Cricket Australia (CA)'s pay offer last month, dismissing the proposal as "a win for cricket administrators but a loss for cricket."

CA has threatened the players with unemployment, saying they would not get alternative contracts if they fail to agree to the new collective bargaining agreement. Warner said he and his colleagues would not "buckle at all."

"If it gets to the extreme, they might not have a team for the Ashes," Warner, currently playing in the IPL as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, told an Australian newspaper.

"I really hope they can come to an agreement... We don't really want to see this panning out like that where we don't have a team and we don't have cricket in the Australian summer. It is up to CA to deal with the ACA. It's obviously in their hands," said the 30-year-old.

Mitchell Starc had earlier predicted "an interesting men's and women's Ashes" in a cryptic tweet, triggering speculations of a possible players' strike if they were not paid after the existing collective bargaining agreement expires on June 30.