Cricket Australia's coronavirus cuts could be 'disastrous', says players' union chairman Greg Dyer

Cricket Australia's cost-cutting measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic could have "disastrous" consequences, according to the chairman of Australia's professional cricketers' union.

Cricket Australia has furloughed around 80 per cent of its staff and said it had suffered a A$20m (£10.7m) fall in revenue due to COVID-19, despite the pandemic hitting at the end of the Australian season.

The board is also pushing member states to agree cuts to their grants and is in talks with players about adjusting pay.

Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) chairman Greg Dyer questioned the board's gloomy financial outlook, saying the game had "yet to experience a significant negative revenue event".

"It should be in a relatively strong financial position, particularly relative to the winter sports, and with the benefit of time should emerge with a distinct advantage to other sports who've been caught directly in COVID's crosshairs," Dyer said.

"Now is not the time to diminish the game, but instead… seize the moment and improve it."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said last month the board could suffer a revenue hit of hundreds of millions of dollars if India were unable to tour in the home summer.

However, the tour's chances of going ahead have been boosted by Australia's success in reducing COVID-19 infections over the past month.

Dyer said cost-cutting at state and grass-roots levels would have "disastrous long-term consequences on the health of the game" and took aim at Cricket Australia's centralised high performance programme.

"That at the first sign of a headwind states are being asked to take significant cuts, which are in turn filtering down to local cricket, suggests that something is horribly wrong with the current model," he said.