Cricket Australia contemplate handing David Gallop his hat-trick of major sports code CEO jobs
After the failed tenure of Kevin Roberts, a change in thinking is needed inside Cricket Australia. Once David Gallop’s time leading the FFA and rugby league was seen as baggage, now it is a major attraction.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Support is growing for David Gallop to lead his third major sporting code, with Cricket Australia urged to look beyond their Melbourne bubble.
Gallop once shared the new ball with Test great Geoff Lawson for University of NSW as a very decent grade cricket opening bowler, and sources close to the former NRL and FFA chief executive say he would have interest in surging into the wind again for the top job in a sport he has been passionate about his whole life.
Relive the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 on KAYO. Watch complete and condensed replays of the biggest matches. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >
Cricket Australia was led by James Sutherland for 17 years, before internal candidate Kevin Roberts was put in charge, only to last 20 months in the hot seat.
Gallop had only informal discussions about the CA chief executive role back in 2018 when Roberts was appointed, but it’s understood the feeling on the CA board at the time was that he had been around the block too many times.
But following Roberts’ failed tenure, there is a belief both inside and outside the game that a change in thinking is needed and Gallop’s vast experience as a sporting administrator across rugby league and soccer should be seen as a major advantage rather than baggage to be avoided.
Test legend Allan Border has been highly critical of the CA board and says it must look outside the box. Border has pushed the barrow of not only Gallop, but sacked NRL chief Todd Greenberg, as smart operators, and cricket people whose backgrounds in the dog-eat-dog world of rugby league have them well-suited for the pressures of running the country’s national sport.
“They’ve got the experience and they are cricketers. They know the game and have a bit of passion for it, plus they know sports administration,” Border told The Saturday Telegraph.
“… Cricket definitely needs to look far and wide and get the right person for the job because it’s a tough job.
“You’re doing things under scrutiny, you’re forever putting out bushfires and those two guys have spent half their time putting out bushfires.”
Experienced administrator Michael Brown spent 10 years as Cricket Australia’s second-in-command to Sutherland and has also worked at the highest level across rugby league and football, where he spearheaded the successful Asian Cup tournament alongside Gallop.
Gallop’s roots in cricket run deep and Brown said his former ally’s resume demanded consideration by CA.
Brown said after the negative headlines of the past three months, the pressure is on the Cricket Australia board to lock down a CEO that can reinvigorate the game.
“I don’t know his intentions to be bluntly honest … he’s obviously been a very good administrator and he played the game, so he has great credentials. I don’t know whether he wants the job but he should be an applicant,” said Brown.
“Kevin (Roberts) is a ripping bloke but it just didn’t work. There must be a reason … this is where the board is tested in my view. Get this decision right, because there’s no coming back from it. You only have two jobs: get the governance right and appoint your CEO.
“The board needs to be switched on in appointing the person the game needs to take it forward.
“I really worry when people say there’s a list. Forget the list. Go and get the background right first. Get the requirements right and then go find a list to match the requirements. Don’t try and do it the other way around because you’ll end up in the same position and pick the wrong person again.
“You picked the wrong guy because you didn’t look for the right person.
“The only measure of a sports administrator … is longevity, because if you’re in it for long enough, you must have been OK at it.
“Cricket is one of the few sports that galvanises people, good and bad. I love the game; I just want it to start making good decisions.”
Meet the man tasked with fixing Australian cricket
Nick Hockley once packed down in a rugby union front-row before 76,000 fans, and he’ll need all that resilience and more as he attempts to steer the engine room of Australian cricket, writes Ben Horne.
The man thrown into the deepest of deep ends following Kevin Roberts’ dramatic sacking as chief executive of Cricket Australia, says the experience of playing hooker at Twickenham has equipped him for the minefield that is suddenly his responsibility to solve.
“The front row is the most cerebral position on the field,” jokes Hockley from his Maroubra home.
“I got a blue in a Varsity match for Oxford and played in front of 76,000 people. And I played for England at student level.
“I played against the Bath team of the mid-1990s, all international front rowers.
“… You’re so focused, I ended up not really noticing the crowd. It’s just the adrenaline of the day and I think you can take that forward to the big events as well (as an administrator). Obviously you’re not playing in them, but game day is game day.
“I did max out the limit of my capability and I think that’s a mentality I’ve tried to take forward throughout my career.”
Since news broke that an approach has been made to former England captain Andrew Strauss to run Australian cricket, already the game has been abuzz about whether a Pom could take the reins of our national pastime.
But right now it’s another Englishman in the chair – and although he’s reluctant to say whether he is coveting the permanent job as CEO – Hockley is keen to point out he’s an Aussie now.
And Cricket Australia can thank rugby for delivering them a unassuming administrator who worked on the London Olympics and led the historic Women’s World Cup earlier this year which drew pop sensation Katy Perry and a record 80,000 fans to the final at the MCG.
“It’s actually one of the reasons why I’m here in Australia. I came out here and played against Sydney Boys High as a schoolboy and they had a very, very, very good side with Duncan McRae and Chris Whittaker and that was my first taste of Australia. I really fell in love with Australia from that point on,” said Hockley.
“I shared a flat with three Aussies (at Oxford). I became close with them and then did a stint out here in corporate finance with PBC in my late 20s and that’s when I met my wife.
“The deal was after the Olympics were out of the way we would emigrate, and that’s what we’ve done.
“I’ve become an Australian citizen. My wife is Australian. I’ve got one daughter born in England, one born in Australia, but this is my adopted home and I’ve now worked in Australian cricket for almost a third of my career. I’m extremely passionate about it.”
Most UK citizens know someone who has died from coronavirus; so widespread has been the impact. Hockley – with his roots to his country of birth – is no different.
But in Australia the crisis has been comparatively well contained, and Hockley is optimistic about what the coming summer holds for cricket.
“I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to,” he said.
By the end, relationships had broken down so badly that Roberts was not able to deal directly with the Players Association and at least one key State, stakeholders who have so far refused to accept the numbers behind Cricket Australia’s controversial CORONA-19 financial cuts.
But Hockley says he will put himself on the front line to deal with the players and States and end the deadlock.
“I think we’ve all got a role to play,” he said.
“There is increasing clarity around the situation. We need to take a little bit of time now to reset, then we need to engage, but I think everyone is wanting to pull together and really emerge stronger from this crisis.”