Former fast bowler Nathan Bracken and Cricket Australia were said to be "close" to signing off on the legal action concerning the knee injury that left him with a limp, but it's not expected to be finalised until July.
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The NSW Supreme Court was advised on Wednesday that Cricket Australia and Bracken had reached a settlement agreement during mediation last Friday, however, it still needs to be resolved.
Bracken said his legal counsel advised him he couldn't comment on the latest development but a Cricket Australia spokesperson confirmed to Fairfax Media it still needed to be signed off.
"It's an ongoing matter but in principle the matter has been settled," said the Cricket Australia spokesperson.
It was expected the agreement between the two parties would be finalised in July. Bracken, who played five Tests and 116 one-day internationals for Australia between 2003 to 2009 took legal action against Cricket Australia and three members of its medical staff when he alleged negligence.
With a contract that was estimated to be worth $400,000-a-year at the time of his injury, Bracken sued the governing body and the medical professionals when he alleged they failed to "investigate, diagnose and treat" his right knee when he injured it eight years ago. He claimed he did not receive competent medical advice from CA about the treatment of his knee and sought compensation for lost wages and sponsorship deals.
As a former International Cricket Council No.1 ranked fast bowler in one-day and Twenty20 formats, Bracken also wanted the potential earnings he missed out on from not being able to play in the lucrative Twenty20 tournaments around the world to be covered.
In March this year Bracken told Fairfax Media he approached Cricket Australia in 2010 about insurance arrangements to underwrite his treatment. "I didn't question it. I just expected it," he recalled."That's how it is, right? If you get hurt doing something at work, it's all good because there is a system in place to assist you. But there wasn't even as much as a discussion. I pretty much got laughed out of the room."
Bracken said that unlike the "overwhelming support" Wests Tigers forward Simon Dwyer enjoyed from within the National Rugby League community, after an injury ended his career in 2011, his "cricketing family" deserted him.
He claimed they were "too scared" to join him in questioning the system – and elitist culture – that exists in cricket. "With cricket, it's like, 'you can't possibly do that'," he said.
