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24 James Cook U. L. Rev. 77 (2018)
Cricket and the Law: Ball Tampering, Contracts and Enterprise Bargaining Agreements

handle is hein.journals/jamcook24 and id is 83 raw text is: CRICKET AND THE LAW: BALL TAMPERING, CONTRACTS AND ENTERPRISE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS CHRIS DAVIES* AND SAM LANSKY* ABSTRACT Cricket in Australia has faced two recent crises, the first being the prolonged enterprise bargaining negotiations between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) that resulted in a situation where, for a few months, Cricket Australia had no contracted players. This meant that during this period CA had no players to fulfil its contractual broadcasting obligations. When the matter was finally resolved it is very much in favour of the players as CA backed down on it position of not using the revenue sharing model. It is suggested this highlights that it is players who now hold the greater bargaining power when it comes to negotiations. The second crisis involved the ball tampering incident in South Africa, with CA banning three players from playing first-class cricket in Australia for up to twelve months. It is suggested that given the severity of the incident and its late season timing, the penalties were reasonable and therefore legal under the terms of the players' contracts. I INTRODUCTION During 2017-18 cricket in Australia faced two significant crises. The first was the drawn out negotiations between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) in what has been described as the most significant pay dispute in Australian cricket history,1 one that, temporarily at least, brought professional cricket in Australia to a standstill. Eventually, a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) was negotiated in time for the threatened 2017-18 Ashes series against England to go ahead as scheduled. It was during Australia's next series, away against South Africa in March 2018, that an even greater problem arose when it was revealed the Australia cricket team had resorted to using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball to assist their bowlers. The two players directly involved, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft, as well as captain, Steve Smith, received match bans from the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, the penalties handed down by CA went much further, imposing twelve month domestic bans on Steve Smith and Dave Warner, while Cameron Bancroft received a nine month ban. Whilst none of the three players chose to appeal the suspensions, the severity of the penalties did raise issues as to their legality on the grounds that they may have amounted to a restraint of trade. Within the context of sport, former International Olympic Committee President, Jacque Rogge, has suggested governance involves clarification between the rules of the games and the economic and commercial dimension related to the management of sport. He also suggests that since sport is based on ethics and fair play, sports governance should Associate Professor, College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University. ** Fourth year law student, College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University. 'Mary Gearin, Cricket pay deal: Here's what you need to know (3 August 2017) ABC News <http:/www. abc. net. au/news/20 17 -08 -03/cricket-pay-deal-explained/8771988>.

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