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England will not tour for the Ashes if a pay deal cannot be struck between Cricket Australia and the players.
Australia vice-captain David Warner warned back in May we "might not have a team for the Ashes" if the two parties cannot agree on the deal.
And it seems the players have England's backing.
An ECB spokesman confirmed to ESPNcricinfo they would not tour Australia if they are not assured of the warm up matches before the Ashes.
It means Cricket Australia and the cricketers will need to come up with a resolution before then.
The spokesman, however, did describe abandoning the Ashes as "unthinkable".
The players are technically unemployed, and have stated they will not play international cricket unless the two parties can come up with a suitable deal.
It leaves Australia's upcoming international fixtures in doubt, including the scrapped Australia A tour of South Africa, a Test series in Bangladesh in August, an ODI tour of India as well as the Ashes.