Key Cricket Victoria stakeholders alerted to staff cuts by media
Cricket Victoria’s main stakeholders have asked the sporting body for clarification after hearing of sweeping staff cuts through the media, as the organisation comes under fire from all sections of the cricketing community.
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Key stakeholders of Cricket Victoria have issued a “please explain” to the sporting body after hearing of sweeping staff cuts through the media.
It’s understood a number of backers made inquiries to Cricket Victoria’s management after Leader first revealed huge job losses last Thursday.
Cricket Victoria management has come under fire from all sections of the cricket community since the cuts were made public, with Cricket Australia itself reportedly outraged at community cricket programs being slashed.
Victorian cricket associations and clubs have also expressed serious concerns questioning how the governing body plans to support grassroots cricket moving forward.
Cricket Victoria chief executive Andrew Ingleton issued a memo confirming the restructure to the government and stakeholders last Friday, at least 12 hours after the news broke.
It’s understood he addressed the entire workforce about the restructure over a video call for the first time on Thursday.
Mr Ingleton has so far declined to be interviewed by Leader.
Cricket Victoria is set to make up to half of its staff redundant by mid-May amid a deep financial crisis accelerated, but not entirely caused by, coronavirus.
Community cricket and junior pathway programs will be the hardest hit in the restructure with the entire field force department being slashed from 45 employees to just 12.
Country cricket is also expected to suffer with a depleted and under resourced staff base likely to find it harder to reach out to regional clubs and schools.
Victorian Country Cricket League president Kelvin White said they were concerned about the cuts taking place.
He said the VCCL had written to Cricket Victoria to offer support and help in any way possible.
The Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union also reached out to Cricket Victoria for an understanding on how they could make the partnership work going forward after hearing of the cuts through the media.
Both the VCCL and VMCU are voting delegates on the Cricket Victoria board.
The State Government has tipped in at least $50 million to Cricket Victoria for infrastructure and participation projects since coming to power in 2014.
The State Government also supports cricket through the $12.4 million Community Cricket Program: On Common Ground, which provides assistance to clubs and councils for infrastructure upgrades.
They have also provided funding to help take BBL matches to regional areas.
A State Government spokesman said it would work with all sports, including cricket, to maximise benefits for Victorians once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
CitiPower, a naming rights partner of Cricket Victoria’s new high-performance centre at the Junction Oval, has also reached out since the cuts were revealed.
CitiPower brand and partnerships lead Nina Ivanovic said they valued their alliance with Cricket Victoria and were continuing to support them during this “extraordinary period”.
“We are proud of the contribution our partnership has made to community cricket, with $102,000 allocated to 26 local cricket clubs as part of our Canteen Grants program in the past two years,” she said.
“We are working with Cricket Victoria to offer another round of funding during the next cricket season.
“We feel for the people impacted by the recent restructuring by Cricket Victoria as we do for all those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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