Australian cricket's pay spat will soon shift from a clash of ideologies to something far more serious for many rookie-listed players joining the ranks of the unemployed.
The current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) expires at midnight on Friday.
It means more than 200 cricketers will be out of work on Saturday.
Steve Smith and David Warner, and even many domestic players, are unlikely to feel the pinch.
But plenty of out-of-contract state scrappers are on the other end of the pay scale and don't have other income or savings to fall back on.
The ACA has established a support fund that will help provide necessary living expenses while the MoU stalemate continues.
It's understood the mechanics of the program will be one of many topics discussed during Sunday's unprecedented meeting of players in Sydney. Some details are being kept confidential.
Off-contract domestic players facing genuine financial hardship, who intend to play in 2017-18, will be eligible to access funds to cover items such as rent, food and bills.
"A rookie male retainer is $40,000 per year. So for players that are living away from home to pursue their professional cricket dream, not being paid beyond July 1 is going to be a challenge," ACA player liaison manager Simon Katich told AAP.
"The same goes for female domestic players who may be balancing part-time work, study and playing.
"That's why this scheme was created ... players are incredibly united and galvanised around this cause."
CA has used cash as both carrot and stick in its attempts to convince players that scrapping the revenue-sharing model is a good idea.
"What is important to acknowledge is that cricket is the players' job, and if you aren't getting paid to do your job, that presents the same challenges as if it were to happen to any other person," Katich said.
Smith, Warner and other international players turned down a big pay rise when they rebuffed CA's initial offer.
CA high-performance boss Pat Howard made it clear this week that out-of-contract players would not receive backpay.
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