About Us

The Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) is the collective and representative voice of past and present male and female elite domestic and international cricketers in Australia.

The ACA was established in 1997 to:

• To act as the collective and representative voice of present, past and future elite international cricketers in Australia (including when those cricketers play cricket internationally);
• To seek to improve and advance the employment, industrial and professional rights, wellbeing and safety of those cricketers;
• To strive for the improvement of economic and other conditions of those cricketers generally and to regulate compliance with agreed conditions;
• To pursue initiatives that will ultimately benefit those cricketers and its Members;
• To represent its Members in bargaining of Cricket Collective Agreements
• To represent and provide support for its members in employment disputes where deemed appropriate;
• To safeguard and improve the wellbeing of its Members in employment disputes where deemed appropriate;
• To administer an account for payment of retiring or transitional benefits to Members (including the fund known as the Australian Cricketers’ Retirement Account);
• To provide advice, services or assistance to its Members, where deemed appropriate;To promote the sport of cricket; and
• Anything ancillary to the objects set out above.

A Brief History of the ACA

Australian cricketers have long fought for better pay and conditions but the formal incorporation of the Australian Cricketers’ Association in February 1997 represented the most significant action by a group of players since the World Series revolution of the 1970s.

Under our inaugural President, former Australian and South Australian spinner Tim May, the ACA brought together all the Australian and State first-class cricketers to argue for improved remuneration, conditions and security for players.

At the time, player payments were incredibly low - representing around 9% of the revenue generated by the game - and for State players, contracts didn’t even exist in the way they do today. Most players were forced to combine increasing training and playing demands with full-time work, using annual leave entitlements from these other jobs in order to play or tour. Support for injured players was limited, job security was low and assistance for past players and female cricketers was negligible.

If you needed support or wanted to enhance your off-field skills, there were no Professional Development programs, Education or Training grants or Career Transition services.

In September 1997, all first-class male cricketers signed a document instructing the ACA to act on their behalf in dealing with the ACB (as Cricket Australia was then known) and the State Associations.

The initial proposal for improved male player conditions that was put forward by the ACA was rejected outright by the establishment and a stalemate between the parties followed.

Further meetings and stalemates were a regular part of the months that followed until the final signing of the agreement between the two parties in September 1998. This agreement between the ACB and the ACA - called the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – achieved two major outcomes:

• The establishment of Standard State Contracts for all male State Players; and
• A share in Australian Cricket Revenue for players, creating genuine partnership between the game and its players.

In conjunction with Cricket Australia (CA), the ACA provides a comprehensive Professional Development and Wellbeing Program, while past players and current female cricketers are valued members of the Association, with access to a wide range of benefits and services.

These significant wins were achieved in no small way because the players stood strong, were united and were prepared to refuse to play unless a fair deal could be reached. This was a difficult period for the player group but it galvanised them and paid dividends both on and off the field. Although a player strike was averted, the brave actions of the players back then improved the conditions of not only the cricketers of their time, but paved the way for the increased benefits enjoyed by the generations that followed.

The Australian Cricket Players Limited (ACN 639 455 824) trading as the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ABN 81 104 703 910) is a public company limited by guarantee. The ACA is a registered trade mark of Australian Cricket Players Limited. The Cricketers’ Brand is also a registered business name and trade mark of Australian Cricket Players Limited. More information about The Cricketers’ Brand can be found under the ‘Commercial & Partners’ section of the website.