Australian Test cricket captain Tim Paine says players won’t be greedy, as they wait to find out if they will be asked to take a pay cut.

Cricket Australia has stood down the vast majority of its staff for the rest of the financial year, citing uncertainty created by COVID-19, and is in talks with the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) regarding players’ pay.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dictates that CA must, by April 30, provide the ACA with a list of national contracts plus revenue estimates for 2020-21.

Wicketkeeper Paine said the players knew they would get less pay because of the revenue-sharing model they have in place with CA.

He agreed the players needed to get a clearer idea of CA’s financial position before agreeing to any further cuts.

“Players need to know the absolute financial positions of the game and the players aren’t going to be greedy,” Paine said on ABC Radio..

“Our livelihood, all the people associated with the ACA and the players association, their livelihood is dependent on the game of cricket being healthy.

“So at the moment if a pay cut for us is on the cards and that keeps our game thriving well into the future, then that’s something we’ll certainly have to look at.”

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Paine wasn’t that surprised at the financial state of cricket in Australia, given what was happening with the economy and in the business world.

“I think commercially a lot of sponsors have been pretty hard hit and it’s obviously going to hit cricket Australia at some stage then as well,” Paine said.

“I think there’s a bit of safeguarding towards the potential of India not coming (on a tour in December/January) which is worth something like 250 to 300 million dollars.”

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Paine said he hasn’t been briefed on any contingency plan if the coronavirus prevented the India tour.

“I haven’t just yet and I don’t want to be. I’m hoping that they get here, that would solve a lot of issues,” Paine said.

“I know there’s been some early talks with Cricket Australia and the government around the potential of what could be done, chartering planes and getting them in isolation when they get here to make sure that we can get India here.

“But apart from that I’ve only heard a few things on the rumour mill about maybe New Zealand coming out and us going there.”

Paine gave short shrift to suggestions by former captain Michael Clarke the Australians had “sucked up” to Indian captain Virat Kohli in recent years so that they would retain lucrative IPL contracts.

“If you’re going to come out with a big quote and try and take people on and cause any sort of trouble and have a crack at people, I think you name people individually and he certainly didn’t,” Paine said.

“It was certainly unfounded because I was out on the field and there was no one taking it easy (on Kohli).”

-AAP