Cricketers avert pay strike

Sydney - An impasse with the players' union over performance-related pay has been overcome and a final agreement was imminent, Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said on Friday.

Fears of strike action had eased significantly following a breakthrough in talks between CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association, Sutherland said ahead of a June 30 deadline for a new deal.

"We work through issues from day to day and this is obviously a major one," Sutherland told reporters.

"It's challenging and it's complex and it's important, and I don't think either party expected to be able to walk through this easily.

"We just were not able to work through the impasse and, fortunately, we've found a way through that in the last couple of days.

"We're now in a very confident position of having an agreement."

CA chairperson Wally Edwards said only details needed to be resolved between both parties.

"The board today has considered a lot of the issues and there's just details now to be resolved," Edwards said.

Sutherland also spoke about scheduling issues with Pakistan over a limited-overs series likely to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in August.

The series will not be played in Pakistan for security reasons and Sri Lanka has pulled out as host because of commitments with its domestic T20 competition.

"If the UAE was a preferred venue then, yes, it's a time of year when it is very hot and humid," Sutherland said.

"We would expect both countries would have concerns about that and be doing everything they can to minimise that effect."

Three ODIs and three T20 internationals have been scheduled and Sutherland said he had given Pakistan his board's assessment of venues in UAE and Malaysia and an announcement was expected next week.