Pay-hike demand may make Aussies unpopular: Former players

MELBOURNE: Australian cricketersdemanding a pay-hike to compensate for the gruelling season next year may end upbeing perceived money-minded grumblers, former Test stars like Ian Healy havewarned.Ricky Ponting and his men are currently negotiating theircontracts for next season, which might see them being away from home for almost11 months.Vice-captain Michael Clarke has insisted that the amountof cricket, in addition to various sponsorship duties, has begun to take a tollon the players' lives at home as they spend more and more time away fromfamilies.Former wicketkeeper Healy agreed that top stars are playinga lot of cricket but insisted that they are being paid rather well by CricketAustralia and they risk becoming unpopular by openly asking forhikes."Perception is better than the truth in many cases. They areplaying more games, but they are pretty well paid," Healy was quoted as sayingby 'The Daily Telegraph'.