Cricket Australia (CA) chairman David Peever labelled the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) "reckless" in a scathing attack as the pay dispute continues.
Australia A's tour of South Africa has already been cancelled after the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expired on June 30 and left more than 200 players unemployed amid an impasse in negotiations over a new pay deal.
ACA has stood firm on its request for a revenue sharing model which would give it a greater say in the game's future, but CA has refused to meet those demands, placing August's tour of Bangladesh and the Ashes series in doubt.
And the relationship between the two parties is on shakier ground after Peever took aim at the ACA.
"CA has made what in any normal circumstances would be regarded as a very generous offer," Peever wrote in his column for The Australian .
"It includes healthy pay increases for male players, a more than 150 per cent increase in pay for female players and gender equity in both pay and conditions, along with a share of any surplus for all players and major increases in other support and benefits.
"The ACA has responded by not only rejecting that proposal [and recent concessions] out of hand, but by launching a campaign of such sustained ferocity that anyone could be forgiven for thinking CA was proposing the reintroduction of slavery.
"Not content with that level of overreaction, the ACA has gone much further, refusing to allow players to tour, threatening to drive away commercial sponsors and damage the prospects of broadcast partners, lock up player intellectual property into its own business ventures, and even stage its own games.
"It's a reckless strategy that can only damage the game and therefore the interests of the ACA's members."
Peever continued: "For the record, I respect the role of the ACA – and unions in general – to negotiate on behalf of members.
"I recognise the place of collective bargaining and I accept the industrial relations framework.
"When this dispute is resolved, I would like to see the ACA resume the important and constructive role it has played in cricket until recent times. Any claims that I hold contrary views are untrue."
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