Reparations will soon be distributed but relationships will take much longer to repair after the end of Australian cricket's protracted pay war.
Australia captain Steve Smith. Photo: Photosport
Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA), having publicly swapped barbs for almost a year during stalled pay talks, announced an in-principle agreement.
The landmark deal, which covers female players for the first time, guarantees state and international players will pocket up to 30 per cent of an estimated 1.8 billion dollars of revenue over the next five years.
It means some 230 cricketers, who have been unemployed since the previous deal's expiry on June 30, now have a job. Their wages will be deposited later this month; back pay will be distributed once the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is signed.
It also means this month's Test tour of Bangladesh and the women's and men's Ashes series will proceed as planned.
Supporters and sponsors are among many breathing a sigh of relief.
But it does not mean all is well with the sport's warring parties.
CA chief executive James Sutherland and ACA counterpart Alistair Nicholson, drained after a multitude of marathon meetings, cut austere figures during Thursday's announcement.
They smiled once during a media conference that lasted almost half an hour. It was at least in unison, coming when asked if they're committed to staying in their respective jobs, given the unedifying spat that has infuriated fans and strained player-administrator relations.
"I am," Nicholson said.
"I do," Sutherland added.
Revenue sharing, responsible for most of the angst in the impasse, was retained in the deal. Sutherland denied ever wanting to scrap the salary model altogether and regretted how the saga played out.
"The debate itself has at times been difficult and even acrimonious. Relationships within the game have been tested and I know that's been a bit of a turn-off for some fans," Sutherland said.
"I think I can speak for Alistair when I say both parties very much acknowledge and regret that."
Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson both recently suggested it would take time for trust to be restored.
"I'd like to think that, in many ways, it's good sport and that we can all shake hands at the end of it and move on," Sutherland said.
Nicholson's sentiments differed somewhat.
"That will take some time," he said, when asked about repairing relationships.
"But that's something we'll now work through together for the good of the game."
Players took the unprecedented step last month of boycotting an Australia A tour and were prepared to take the same action for the Bangladesh series.
"You can't predict the future," Sutherland said, when asked if the Ashes were at risk of being affected.
Nicholson dismissed the notion that players' reputations had suffered during the feud.
"The players feel like they haven't asked for anything they haven't had in the past," he said.
The Test squad will assemble in Darwin next week for a training camp before departing for Dhaka.
