High Steaks: Todd Greenberg faces his hardest Test - reviving Test cricket

He’s been sledged by Greg Matthews, gone to war for David Warner and weathered rugby league’s worst scandals. Now he faces an even tougher task, reviving Test cricket. Watch the High Steaks interview.

The man who survived rugby league's biggest scandals, Todd Greenberg, now faces an even greater challenge – steering cricket through a franchise revolution that could reshape the sport forever.

When you’ve been sledged mercilessly by Greg Matthews, gone to war for David Warner and cleaned up the mess from footy’s biggest scandals, you can say you’ve been through it all in the world of sport.

But Todd Greenberg’s greatest challenge could be to guide cash-strapped cricket through a massive transition.

When we meet for lunch at Poetica in North Sydney, Greenberg’s on a strict two-hour time limit – and sparkling water only – because he’s due to meet the man who replaced him as NRL chief executive, Andrew Abdo at the coin toss for a charity cricket match at nearby North Sydney Oval.

The match is really the perfect intersection of Greenberg’s life as a former left-handed, first grade batsman for Randwick, who was a cricket tragic growing up in the backyard with his three younger brothers, long before he entered the national spotlight as one of rugby league’s most influential figures.

Now he is the boss of Cricket Australia, overseeing perhaps the most anticipated Ashes series of all time and a key global figure in the future of the world’s second-biggest sport.

Greenberg has flown to Dubai and back again in time for our lunch, for his first time picking up a cricket bat since he used to face off against the Waugh brothers Stephen and Mark and a particularly lippy “Mo” Matthews in Sydney’s grade scene.

“It was a whole new experience for me getting the opportunity to play against ‘Mo’, both facing a great off-spinner and Test legend, but also the art of mind games and real-time feedback after every ball bowled,” Greenberg said.

Todd Greenberg pictured in North Sydney this afternoon with journalist Ben Horne Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“It was both hilarious and frightening all at the same time. I’ve loved the game since I was very little, so it feels like an enormous privilege to have the opportunity to work in this role.”

The first Ashes Test delivered record ratings but Australia’s rout of England in just two days cost CA $4 million. Greenberg desperately hopes to avoid a financially disastrous repeat for the second Test this week in Brisbane.

“Of course I want our Australian team to do well and play on pitches conducive to good performance,” Greenberg said.

“But I also want to make as much revenue because that revenue generates the entire game, including participation. The short answer is if I could get on the roller myself and make the pitches flat and fast, but ultimately playing into day’s four and five, I would.”

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Todd and Lisa Greenberg.

Greenberg, along with former NSW Premier and Cricket Australia Chairman Mike Baird is pushing for Australia to join the inevitable global T20 franchise revolution and sell off the Big Bash to private investors because he believes it will save Test cricket.

“I don’t want people to think it will be the death of Test cricket. It’s actually the opposite,” Greenberg said.

“It will be the resurgence of Test cricket because we’ll be able to generate revenues from the Big Bash and put them into the rest of our cricket from little boys and girls playing right through to the top.

“I’m not fearful. I’m buoyed by the fact that I think we’ll have great interest in people wanting to invest in cricket in this country. That should be a real positive for our sport.

“In the 1970s, World Series Cricket came in, and all of a sudden one-day cricket became another revenue source on top of Test cricket. Now we’ve got T20 cricket. Where the world is going is these global franchise leagues will generate lots of revenue and ensure players have opportunities to play (Test cricket). It’s not one or the other.”

As the plates from our delectable ‘Flambadou’ Oysters are taken away and replaced by Poetica’s to-die-for wagyu 800g ribeye – a steak knife falls from the table in all the excitement and freakishly pierces the skin on my hand, drawing blood.

David Warner playing for the Thunder after Greenberg lobbied hard for Cricket Australia to lift a lifetime leadership ban. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

“Better to be stabbed in the front, mate, than in the back,” Greenberg said with a laugh in what seems a very timely metaphor for his time in rugby league. There is no doubt Greenberg’s time dealing with scandal after scandal in the NRL, has hardened him for the complexities of being a key powerbroker in international cricket.

“I think every job you do builds you with experience and almost some scar tissue for whatever comes next,” he said.

Asked to nominate the toughest controversy he was forced to confront in rugby league, Greenberg admits he endured plenty of sleepless nights introducing the NRL’s controversial “no-fault stand down” rule, and revealed he feels sympathy for players who had years taken out of their careers only to ultimately be cleared by the courts.

Greenberg says he was sledged by Greg Matthews (left).

“I always feel for those people because these are difficult decisions that have impacts on people’s lives,” Greenberg said. “The principle is that protection of the game itself should come first. But there’s a very fine line in making sure the interests of players and natural justice is always protected.”

After 15 years at the coalface of rugby league, firstly as boss of the Canterbury Bulldogs and then in charge of the NRL, Greenberg was ultimately ousted by ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys.

But he bears no resentment for how his time in rugby league came to an end – even though he admits that these days he now watches more AFL than NRL after moving to Melbourne for the Cricket Australia job with wife, Lisa, where he has taken up supporting the Swans.

“I have high regard for Peter. I think to do the two jobs he does takes an enormous amount of desire and work ethic, so you won’t ever hear me say a bad word about Peter. Rugby League’s fortunate to have him,” he said.

Greenberg enjoyed Poetica’s Flambadou’ Oysters. Picture: Supplied by Poetica

“You don’t always get to choose your own exit and your timing but I don’t look back on my rugby league journey with anything other than absolute affection.”

Greenberg’s next job after the NRL was to run the Australian Cricketers Association, and as the players’ representative he lobbied hard for Cricket Australia to lift the lifetime leadership ban imposed on David Warner over the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal.

“I got to know David really well and I found him highly passionate about cricket and it was very obvious to me that as soon as he finished playing, he wanted to contribute in another way, so I never wanted something to stand in his way of either coaching or commentating,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg declines dessert, mindful he has to change into cricket kit and run around North Sydney Oval on national television in less than an hour. His discipline pays off as his team beats the Abdo XI.

Originally published as High Steaks: Todd Greenberg faces his hardest Test - reviving Test cricket