James Sutherland quits: Departing Aussie CEO leaves game in good health despite the many blips

AS James Sutherland tendered his resignation, with many pundits believing the game has never been at a lower ebb, he did so in the wake of signing a $1.2b broadcast deal. Surely that alone puts him in rare air.

James Sutherland and his wife Heidi at the announcement of his resignation.

THE measure of a man is more often than not how he handles himself in a crisis.

James Sutherland has seen more than one through 18 years as Cricket Australia chief executive, but perhaps none more overwhelming than the recent ball tampering scandal.

The debacle in South Africa came hot on the heels of one of the ugliest stoushes between players and administrators cricket had seen during last year’s pay dispute.

There has been a sense that on both occasions, Sutherland, and cricket, came out worse for wear.

James Sutherland is pulling up stumps after 18 years at the helm.

CEO GOES: Sutherland quits, gives 12 months notice

But as he tendered his resignation this week, with many pundits believing the game has never been at a lower ebb, he did so in the wake of signing a $1.2 billion broadcast deal.

It was the richest in the sport’s history in Australia, and the figure was much, much higher than the outside experts predicted, because of the perception around the state of the game.

For all his critics, surely that puts Sutherland, who stayed on specifically to do the broadcast deal, which also was the end of an era with Foxtel and Seven replacing Nine, in rare air.

How did a game, seen to be in crisis, with the national captain and vice-captain banished, the Australian coach also falling on his sword, come out of it all with bucketloads of cash?

To that point, Sutherland cannot be denied his due.

Consider also the cash cow of the Australian summer, that is when England and India aren’t touring, remains the Big Bash, a concept brought to full-blooded fruition by Sutherland.

Sutherland gave credit to his team as he announced he would be staying on only for another 12 months, but that team has changed a lot during his 18 years in the big chair.

Sutherland has been the constant.

James Sutherland and his wife Heidi at the announcement of his resignation.

Figures are a bit like rubber bands at times, they can be pulled and stretched to look like anything.

But boosting turnover from $50 million to $500 million during his tenure has to be a Sutherland tick.

The Australian men’s and women’s teams are the highest paid sportspeople in the country, too, on the back of that revenue increase.

The pay dispute revealed that from Sutherland and CA’s point of view, while he wanted them to be the best paid, maybe they didn’t have to be paid so much.

It created tensions with his key personnel, the players, the ultimate representatives of the game Sutherland not only governed, but played, and still plays.

That tension has dissipated, amid a sport wide re-set, because everyone in cricket was forced to look in the mirror when the events in South Africa unfolded.

Twin reviews in to both the players and administrative culture at CA were enacted, and potentially part of Sutherland’s legacy could yet be damaged when those reviews are complete.

But cricket opened itself up to examination and, even though some suggest the reviews won’t quite hit the marks they need to, it bodes well for the future.

Aussie cricket enters a new era without James Sutherland at the helm.

That’s as much what Sutherland’s announcement was about too, looking forward.

The broadcast deal is done, the MOU is done, there is a new national captain, a new national coach.

The sport wants to move on, and Sutherland decided a fresh CEO would only aid that.

But it will move on with $1.2 billion in its pocket and competition, the BBL, which now dominates the summer sporting landscape.

There were more than a few bumps on the way, but Sutherland rode them as best he could, always with the game in mind.

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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Originally published as James Sutherland quits: Departing Aussie CEO leaves game in good health despite the many blips