Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts goes on the defensive

As the hostile reaction to his handling of the game’s financial crisis continues to intensify, under siege CEO Kevin Roberts declared he has the full support of the Cricket Australia board.

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Kevin Roberts believes he has the full support of the Cricket Australia board as the CEO fights to avoid the ‘coronavirus chop’ stalking sporting administrators.

With Todd Greenberg gone as chief executive of the NRL and Raelene Castle under siege at the helm of Rugby Australia, Roberts’ position as cricket boss has, in a matter of days, become tenuous.

Cricket Australia’s board, who also bear responsibility having signed off on the bombshell to stand down 80 per cent of cricket staff last week, are due to meet on Thursday at a time when State associations and the players’ union are growing increasingly hostile about Roberts’ handling of the financial crisis.

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Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts addresses media on Tuesday. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty

The bizarreness of the predicament Roberts and Cricket Australia find itself in, is that many across the game still maintain it’s a crisis of their own making - with key stakeholders adamant head office has caused unnecessary panic over the threat to cricket’s solvency.

But Roberts strongly denied he has overreacted in asking states and players to get on board with drastic cuts, claiming the game has lost $20 million in recent weeks.

There is disquiet around cricket circles that Roberts’ has lost widespread support and trust since last Thursday’s announcement, but the Melbourne-based chief says the CA board has backed him to have the tough conversations he says the game needs to have.

“Yes, we’re together working through challenging times that no one has faced in society before, let alone in cricket,” said Roberts.

“They’re challenging times we’re working through, we’re doing it collaboratively. None of us get things perfect every step of the way because we’re just as human as everyone else, but we’re doing it with real respect for the communities that we lead and serve and we’re navigating a way through this.

Simon Katich fired a shot at CA. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

“… What we need to do is maintain that trust … of course there’s challenging conversations along the way.

“… Sometimes it takes a number of steps to work through it and even also to understand the situation that we’re dealing with, because it’s changing every single day.

“Having the tough conversations and embracing those respectfully, as our States and Territories have. They’re not the conversations that anyone wants to have but they’re conversations we’re charged with having if we want to lead and serve our sport responsibly.”

Many felt Roberts had in previous weeks expressed optimism about Cricket Australia’s ability to ride out the storm and are therefore stunned that head office so quickly moved to Defcon 5.

But Roberts has strongly defended his communication to staff, players and states and answered questions from CA employees before addressing the media.

“We’ve had very frequent communication and not just one way,” he said.

“We’ve been addressing our people three times a week for at least a month and had State and Territory CEOs on calls once a week.

“I’m very satisfied and I’m getting a lot of feedback from our people and our States and our Territories that they’re very satisfied with the frequency and transparency of the communication. At the same time, I’m human, and there’s no doubt I’m sure some of my communication hasn’t been perfect.”

Tim Paine and Justin Langer. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty

Whether or not Cricket Australia descends into an unmitigated financial catastrophe entirely depends on whether India come out for a summer Test series worth a reported $300 million.

Players know they’ll face massive pay cuts should that Indian series go under, but until that doomsday scenario happens, they’re hesitant to agree to any pre-emptive haircuts on top of the agreed revenue share model when they don’t feel Cricket Australia has adequately proven it has so far lost money.

Roberts was coy when asked whether he would ask players to take additional cuts, but defended his decision to call individual stars directly rather than go through the Australian Cricketers Association.

“They responded with a sense of responsibility and compassion,” he said. “Everyone acknowledges that in the interim we all need some creative solutions whatever that means.”

Originally published as Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts goes on the defensive