Grassroots cricket to feel the sting of Cricket Victoria job losses
Cricket Victoria has axed about 60 jobs, with many to be lost at grassroots level. The state’s pathway program for top-end junior talent has also been hit.
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Community cricket across Melbourne is set to be hit hard as financial woes from coronavirus force Cricket Victoria to axe about 60 jobs and scale back pathways for talented juniors.
A large number of region managers and development officers is among the CV staff facing redundancy.
Only 12 of the 45 positions will remain in the so-called “field force’’ working at grassroots level throughout the state.
The 17 regions have area and cricket managers, and club and participation officers, overseeing areas including the Woolworths starting-point programs for youngsters, schools, club and local government liaison, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and promotion of the Stars and Renegades Big Bash teams.
They had also been in charge of the region representative teams for the state under-age championships, but CV’s coaching and talent identification department assumed that responsibility two years ago.
It’s believed the coaching and talent division, which includes former AFL coach Guy McKenna and legendary fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick, will be reduced from six positions to three.
The unit that runs Premier Cricket has also been depleted.
In another development, the Victorian under-age pathway for elite talent will be scaled back.
In a throwback, Premier clubs are likely to run the under-16 state championships, the Dowling Shield.
There is speculation Dowling will be changed to under-17 next season.
The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association will continue to operate the under-15 John Craig Shield (formerly the Hatch Shield).
Subbies officials were told on Friday that the Craig Shield was “more important than it’s ever been’’.
The state under-14 and under-18 championships in the Youth Premier League are likely to be scrapped, as are the under-15 and 17 national titles.
There is also doubt over the national Second XI competition, the Toyota Cup, and the National Twenty20 going ahead next season.
The wave of redundancies came a week after delegates were told Cricket Victoria’s annual dividend from Cricket Australia would be slashed this year.
An email from Cricket Victoria CEO Andrew Ingleton to staff, seen by Leader, said a number of employees would need to apply for a “contested role” to stay with the organisation. Ingleton told staff they would receive more information on redundancies and the proposed restructure early next week.
The loss of key sponsors for Big Bash League teams Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars has added to the financial pressures facing CV, which posted losses of more than $1 million in the past two years.
It is aiming for a break-even result in 2020.
Renegades’ major sponsor Mars has pulled up stumps, as has Nylex, leaving CV’s commercial team to fill a $1.25 million hole before next season.
Optus has also ended its lucrative four-year sponsorship of the Stars.
More positively, CV is finalising an agreement with Marvel Stadium that it says will improve its bottom line through reduced ticketing charges and the cost of installing the drop-in wicket, better returns from catering and the removal of penalties for transferred games.
In a report to delegates, Ingleton said CV was expecting a big hit to its funding from Cricket Australia and would have to cut costs.
“Like Cricket Australia, we will need to reduce operating expenditure significantly and anticipate a material impact on our workforce, our capacity to service the cricket community and our ability to maintain all of our existing programs,’’ Ingleton said.
“We are not in a position to confirm the detail of our scenario planning as yet, but can advise that we have not factored in cuts to club or affiliate distribution grants in our initial scenario planning.
“We do anticipate needing to pause the Premier Cricket strategic funding program for at least 12 months.
“CV staff have received regular written and face-to-face communications throughout the past three weeks and on (April 17) were advised that CV is planning to mitigate the risk of a significant reduction in revenue in the next 12 months and is developing a plan to address this. I confirmed that job losses and redundancies can be anticipated …’’
In a statement on Friday, Ingleton made no mention of how many jobs would be lost.
He said it had been a challenging time for the organisation.
“Our people are the heart and soul of what makes Victorian cricket such a positive force for good in the community and it’s with real sadness that we have had to make these decisions,” he said.
“We are not immune to the impacts of coronavirus. It has already disrupted the conclusion of the 2019-20 cricket season and is likely to continue to impact our ability to deliver cricket at community level. In addition, there are a range of potential future commercial and financial risks to Victorian cricket that we need to have contingencies for,” Ingleton said.
“Faced with a projected funding cut from Cricket Australia and the need to source principal sponsors for our BBL teams in what is a challenging economic environment, it is clear we need to take appropriate action to mitigate these risks.”