Cricket Australia under fire over media row

By Julian Linden

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian cricket authorities came under fire on Friday for preventing some news organisations from covering the first test match against Sri Lanka, as a boycott of the event by international news groups continued.

Australian politicians, trade union leaders and media groups criticised the cricket body's demand for payment for the right to distribute photographs, which led to some journalists and photographers being locked out of the first test in Brisbane.

"It's not Australian," Australia's communications minister, Helen Coonan, told Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper, while an opposition communications spokesman said the cricket body's actions were "an abuse of power".

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, a media industry body, said news about a public event such as a cricket test match should be freely available and Cricket Australia was "simply being greedy".

"News coverage should not be up for sale; that is the basic issue at stake here," alliance head Chris Warren said.

International news agencies Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse are boycotting Australian cricket events in protest at the demands, which they say threaten journalistic integrity.

Cricket Australia has argued that it owns the right to exploit photographs taken at its games and has asked the agencies to pay to license photos for editorial use.

New Zealand, which is due to tour Australia next month for a series of one-day matches, also expressed concern at Cricket Australia's stance, the New Zealand Press Association reported.