Smith gives his take on pay dispute

Australia captain Steve Smith has taken to social media to voice his support for the Australian Cricketers' Association and their commitment to retaining the revenue-share model of player payments that remains central to the ongoing stand-off, reports cricket.com.au. Smith is one of around 200 professional cricketers who became uncontracted and therefore unemployed when the July 1 deadline – by which time a new Memorandum of Understanding was scheduled to be in place – passed with no agreement last weekend. Smith posted a statement on Instagram reaffirming the players and their union will not compromise their push to maintain the revenue-share model that Cricket Australia wants to modify, and reaffirmed that their stance was to support men's and women's cricketers at domestic level. "I'll say what we as players have been saying for some time now: we are not giving up the revenue sharing model for all players," Smith wrote.

I'll say what we as players have been saying for some time now: we are not giving up the revenue sharing model for all players. But, through the ACA we are willing to make important changes to modernise the existing model for the good of the game. We are and have always been willing to make those changes. Changes for how the model can be adapted for the even greater benefit of grass roots cricket, which is after all where we all started. We are determined to keep revenue sharing for all because we must take care of domestic players in Australia. As leaders that’s what David, Meg, Alex and I have been fighting for: a fair share for state players who are also partners in cricket. I know from my career that when I was dropped in 2011 if I didn't have a strong domestic competition to go back to, I certainly wouldn't be in the position that I'm in today. State players need to be taken care of financially so the domestic competition will always be strong which in turn keeps us strong at the International level. Also as Women's cricket gets bigger and bigger in Australia women players must also be able to share in what they will be earning. They must have the same chances and incentives to grow the game as the men have had since revenue sharing started. And I know I speak for all of the men that we want women cricketers in the one deal with the men as well. It's time to get a deal done. It should be and can be an exciting time for the game.

A post shared by Steve Smith (@steve_smith49) on Jul 8, 2017 at 3:18pm PDT

"But, through the ACA we are willing to make important changes to modernise the existing model for the good of the game. "We are and have always been willing to make those changes. "Changes for how the model can be adapted for the even greater benefit of grass roots cricket, which is after all where we all started. "We are determined to keep revenue sharing for all because we must take care of domestic players in Australia. "As leaders that’s what David (Warner), Meg (Lanning), Alex (Blackwell) and I have been fighting for: a fair share for state players who are also partners in cricket. "I know from my career that when I was dropped in 2011 if I didn't have a strong domestic competition to go back to, I certainly wouldn't be in the position that I'm in today.

"State players need to be taken care of financially so the domestic competition will always be strong which in turn keeps us strong at the International level.

"Also as Women's cricket gets bigger and bigger in Australia women players must also be able to share in what they will be earning. "They must have the same chances and incentives to grow the game as the men have had since revenue sharing started. "And I know I speak for all of the men that we want women cricketers in the one deal with the men as well. "It's time to get a deal done. "It should be and can be an exciting time for the game."