Ashes 2023: Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley on Ashes win, Tim Paine, Justin Langer and criticism of Pat Cummins
Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley has hit back at critics of captain Pat Cummins. In a wide-ranging interview with DANIEL CHERNY, he also talks Test cricket’s future, Tim Paine’s return and much more.
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Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley says he disagrees with some of the commentary around the men’s national team in recent years and that he was gratified to see the breadth of public reaction to the thrilling win in the first Ashes Test.
In a wide-ranging interview with CODE Sports, Hockley also said he was delighted that Tim Paine had returned to a formal role with CA after his messy departure from the Test captaincy, while the chief was also thrilled that Justin Langer was on-hand to witness for the Aussies’ World Test Championship triumph, saying the former coach still had much to offer the sport.
Speaking at Trent Bridge during the women’s Ashes Test match, Hockley said some of the criticism of the men’s team in the wake of Langer’s exit, much of which was directed at captain Pat Cummins – who was also targeted over his public views on social issues including climate change – had been harsh.
Oh captain my captain.
— Julian King (@JulianKing15) June 20, 2023
If anything, Pat Cummins isn't woke enough. Would've won by tea 😛
A mighty cricketer.#Ashes#Ashes23#ENGvAUS
Looking forward to all this morning’s hot takes about how Paddy Cummins is too woke #ENGvAUS
— Martin Pakula (@MartinPakula) June 20, 2023
But Hockley praised both the men’s and women’s teams for the manner in which they were trying to make Australians proud of them.
“We’re always concerned to be the absolute best we can possibly be. I’ve felt that some of the commentary, I didn’t necessarily agree was kind of fair or warranted, but you know, you can only take control of your own actions. And, you know, I think over the past two years, the actions have been louder than words,” Hockley said.
“What we’ve seen over the last two matches in the UK is an extremely committed hardworking, well prepared, exceptionally talented group of players and coaches and support staff who are doing their very best to make Australians proud.
“I do think there is a very kind of palpable sense of what this team represents. And what we‘re collectively representing. And I think expectations are really high.”
Hockley said he had been inundated with messages following the gripping two-wicket win at Edgbaston, noting that the victory had made it all the way to the country’s highest office.
“It was just epic. I think some of the messages that I’ve been receiving not just from Australia, but from kind of around the cricketing world. I’ve had incredible messages from some of the other cricketing countries. I got sent a transcript morning of (the match being) discussed in federal parliament,” Hockley said.
Asked whether he thought Ollie Robinson’s send-off of Australian opener Usman Khawaja was good for the game, Hockley opted against criticising the England seamer.
“What it demonstrated is the intensity of the contest. But overall, that the first Test was played in a very good spirit. There‘s enormous respect between these two sides.”
Having strongly criticised CA’s handling of his infamous sexting episode with a former Cricket Tasmania staffer, the saga that led to him leaving the Test captaincy and never playing for his country again, Paine has reunited with the governing body in a role as a part-time coach of the Australian under-19 and Australia A teams.
In his autobiography released last year, Paine expressed his disappointment at a perceived outsourcing of the issue by Hockley.
But Paine has moved on, and Hockley is rapt to have him back.
“Absolutely delighted that Tim is back involved with Cricket Australia, supporting the game. He’s an exceptional player, exceptional leader. exceptional person and exceptional captain for Australia. And he‘s got a huge amount to contribute,” Hockley said.
“It‘s been a really difficult period of time. But just could not be more delighted that we’re working together again. He’s got a huge amount to offer.”
Langer resigned just a few months after Paine stepped down, with the coach rejecting a short-term contract extension offer from CA.
Hockley was noncommittal on whether there would be a role for Langer down the track at CA, noting that the ex-coach and former Test opener is on record that he is happy in his new guise as a commentator.
“I was absolutely thrilled that he was commentating on the World Test Championship final,” Hockley said.
“It‘s great to see him in such good form. It’s brilliant that he’s kind of in around the game. I know. I know that people are very much enjoying his commentary. And I think I’ll leave it at that.
“He‘s a great at the game and got a huge amount to offer the game.”
Despite the threat of 12-month Indian Premier League contracts taking the best players away from international cricket, Hockley was bullish about the game’s global health.
“The future tours program is kind of well defined for the next four years and sort of reasonably well defined for a little bit longer than that. The really positive development has been the World Test Championship, which gives Test cricket broader context and ensures that everyone has a good balance of opposition over a two-year period.
“So we can‘t take our eye off the ball but I I’m very buoyed very buoyed by the strength of Test cricket. Through the latter part of this World Test Championship cycle, and I’m not just referring obviously to the Ashes. Series in India, referring to the incredible series you saw in New Zealand.”
ESPNCricinfo has reported that India’s board, the BCCI, is set to pocket 38.5 per cent of annual earning under the new ICC finance model.
Hockley acknowledged that the bigger nations had a responsibility to ensure that Test cricket could keep flourishing elsewhere.
“We‘ve got to make sure that all formats in all countries are sustainable. And I think we’re very alive to the balance of the different formats in different countries. Speaking to colleagues and other cricket boards, generally people understand that Test cricket is the pinnacle and also the foundation.
“In terms of the distributions, it‘s really a balance between what’s best for Australian cricket and what’s best for world cricket. Yeah. And it’s also kind of a balance between which countries are generating the revenue and which are not, so I think it’s going to be the topic of further discussion as we’re all meeting (at the ICC annual conference) in Durban in July.”
From a CA perspective at least, Hockley wants to keep enhancing Australia’s reputation as a good global cricket citizen.
“We play more away than we do at home and our responsibility is to continue to do that,” he said.
“Both the women‘s and the men’s teams have a very clear purpose and mantra which is to make Australians proud. We’re blessed with fantastic leaders on the playing side and the non-playing side. Over recent times, there have been some really incredibly formative experiences. I think back to go into Pakistan for the first time 24 years. You know, and then not long after going to Sri Lanka at the height of the fuel crisis.”
Originally published as Ashes 2023: Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley on Ashes win, Tim Paine, Justin Langer and criticism of Pat Cummins
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