Lehmann: Pay dispute played no role in CT exit

Australia coach Darren Lehmann says the pay dispute between the players and country’s cricket board had absolutely nothing to do with the Aussies being knocked out of the Champions Trophy.

Australia lost to England by 40 runs (D/L method) at Edgbaston on Saturday to be knocked out of the tournament before the knockout stages.

However, the Aussies’ time in the UK has been overshadowed by the pay dispute with Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australia Players Association (ACA) seemingly no closer to coming to an agreement.

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The matter should come to a head soon as current national contracts end on 30 June, but Lehmann maintains they were just outplayed by the hosts.

Lehmann said: “No excuses from our point of view on the MoU. That’s going on behind the scenes – it can probably come to the forefront now that we’ve finished. They’ll get down to that and sort that out. No excuses from our end on the MoU.

“It’s always there. It’s the elephant in the room. It’s always going to be talked about. But from a playing point of view, you’re out there, surely you’re not thinking about the MoU when you’re batting or bowling.

“I wouldn’t think that would have affected the players’ performance at all. We were just outplayed.”

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