James Sutherland quits: Confident administrator contrasted markedly with awkward public performer

THE new media deal, day-night Tests, the boom in the women’s game. James Sutherland had some memorable successes. But for all that, he was never quite the salesman his product was craving.

AS much as it was denied the ball tampering affair prompted James Sutherland to stand down as Cricket Australia chief executive. There’s little doubt it hastened his exit.

Rumours have been circling for the last 10 months that once the players dispute was settled and the television deal done Sutherland’s lengthy tenure would end, so his exit is not a total shock.

CEO GOES: Sutherland quits, gives 12 months notice

ANALYSIS: James’ reign actually delivered for the game

James Sutherland is set to vacate Cricket Australia’s CEO chair.

It was not a matter of him being shunted out the door, or of him taking full responsibility for the scandal that swept the cricket world on his watch.

Just the collective realisation, particularly among the board he chairs, that after 17 years it was time for a change and the ball tampering scandal enhanced this sentiment.

In assessing Sutherland’s performance it must first be pointed out there was essentially two of him - the extremely capable, confident administrator who knew the game from top to bottom and the slightly nervous, often reluctant public performer who was at his most awkward when he had a microphone in front of him.

Sutherland-bashing is a favourite past-time of ex-players but when he walks out of Cricket Australia offices for the last time he can mouth the words so often used to silence sporting sledgers ... “have a look at the scoreboard.’’

Australian cricket has never been watched by more, played by more or worth more than it is today.

Crowds doubled and revenue increased 10 fold during his reign, not all his doing but he was the significantly steady guiding hand.

Sutherland’s notable achievements were picking just the right time to launch the Big Bash, doing it with a flourish and defying so many of the game’s conventions.

James Sutherland with Cricket Australia chairman David Peever.

It is unlikely Australia would never have had a day-night Test had he not pushed so hard when countries like New Zealand and South Africa were saying they had no interest.

These are golden studs in the modern history of Australian cricket.

Women’s cricket has expanded 10 fold under his watch.

He was an agent for change while never ignoring the game’s most sacred traditions.

You don’t survive for nearly two decades at the top without being a deft politician and one media man tells the story of wanting to give both barrels to the Sutherland administration when he was interviewed for the Argus report, but when he turned up Sutherland was part of the interview process, prompting him to hold fire.

To survive in the fickle, turbulent world of cricket administration for 17 years says that Sutherland was no fool and generally made the right moves.

He had some memorable successes.

James Sutherland has endured a tough last 12 months.

For all that, he was never quite the salesman his product was craving.

Early in his tenure he was up against AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and the contrast between them was stark.

Demetriou was like a one man fog horn preaching his strong views across the AFL landscape - and whether or not you agreed with him you could never ignore him.

Sutherland by contrast was often content to play the accountant he is by trade, much preferring to be behind the scenes making decisions he was far happier sanctioning than talking about.

That’s fine if you you are a backroom number cruncher but figureheads on $1-$2 million a year should have a stronger voice.

The bottom line to Australia’s cricket finances - including a recent billion dollar television deal - means that Sutherland is leaving the game in far better shape than he joined it, which is always a measuring stick that matters.

But it was the journey to the bottom line that cast a pall over the final year of his era.

The ball tampering affair was probably the last straw for Sutherland.

The ugly pay war with the players last year was seen as an embarrassment for Cricket Australia who tried to use strong arm tactics in abolishing the set revenue structure that had worked successfully for two decades.

Eventually the deal was done but not before CA caved in on many of their demands simply to get it over the line.

Then came the ball tampering.

So great was the fall out from the ball tampering that it has virtually been forgotten that an extremely telling incident just before it said just as much about a culture gone bad.

When David Warner and Quinton de Kock had a heated exchange in the first Test in Durban, Sutherland, on behalf of his board, sent a blunt message to the players to lift their game and the public expected far more from them.

A couple of weeks later the greatest cricketing scandal of the century erupted so it was clear the push for better behaviour had made as much of an impact as a rain drop on a roof tile.

The players had stopped listening.

It was time for new voices.

The James Sutherland files

Highs

The introduction of the Big Bash League in 2011 and the Women’s Big Bash League in 2015.

Australia jointly hosting the 2015 World Cup with New Zealand.

Cricket participation numbers in Australia growing from around 400,000 to 1.4 million, including a near ten-fold increase in female participation.

Revenue increasing nearly ten-fold from around $50 million in 2001 to around $500 million in 2018.

Signing a six-year broadcast deal with the Seven Network and Fox Sports worth nearly $1.2 billion, ending a 40-year relationship with the Nine Network.

Lows

A 12-month suspension handed to star spinner Shane Warne for testing positive to a banned substance in February 2003

The 2008 ‘Monkey-gate’ scandal, where Australian players were furious that Sutherland didn’t back them more after Andrew Symonds accused Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh of calling him a monkey.

The 2011 Argus review after an embarrassing 3-1 Ashes series loss, leading to the hiring of Pat Howard as high performance manager.

“Homework-gate’ saw Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, James Pattinson and vice- captain Shane Watson suspended for not completing a written task set by coach Mickey Arthur.

Arthur was sacked as Australian coach two weeks before the 2013 Ashes, after the national team were eliminated in the group stage in the Champions Trophy and suffered a 4-0 Test series loss to India.

Phillip Hughes was fatally struck with a cricket ball during a Sheffield Shield match in November 2014. An inquest into the 25-year-old’s death found it was a “tragic accident”.

Sutherland was criticised for being very low-key in the long-running and at times bitter pay dispute between CA and their players in 2017.

The 2018 South African ball-tampering scandal left Cricket Australia red faced and led to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft copping lengthy bans from international cricket.

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