Former Australian team manager Gavin Dovey on his special relationships with Darren Lehmann and Justin Langer
The new NT Cricket chief executive officer and former national team manager Gavin Dovey opens up on his special relationship with Justin Langer and Darren Lehmann.
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Freshly-minted Cricket NT chief executive officer Gavin Dovey has opened up on his special relationship with former national cricket coaches Justin Langer and Darren Lehmann.
Dovey, who was Australian team manager for 11 years, worked under Lehmann during the sandpaper scandal of 2018, and later Langer before he quit in early 2022 amid intense media speculation about his future.
The father of three, who has been based in London for around the past five years, followed Langer not long after for the exit door, wanting to get some “normality” back into his life.
The University of Canberra graduate, who replaced Steve Bernard in April, 2011, was team manager during a period of many peaks and troughs for Autralian cricket, from Ashes whitewashes to the infamous “Homeworkgate” in India in 2013.
There was also a cultural shift which saw the players enjoy greater autonomy and power over their careers, which some argue may have hastened Langer’s eventual demise.
Dovey, who was announced as the Top End CEO on Monday, was also regarded in cricketing circles as Langer’s ally or confidant.
However, in an exclusive interview with the NT News, Dovey said he could never quite understand the “fascination” with his and Langer’s close partnership over several years, but admitted they were “wired quite similar”.
“I’m not entirely sure why that seemed to have some legs, or a particular narrative might have got built there,” Dovey said, who has visited the Territory twice in the past, 2012 and 17.
“I don’t know why people had that sort of perception or why that narrative built up for a period of time.”
When asked if he had consulted with the 105-Test legend before taking the NT Cricket position, Dovey simply said Langer remained one of his best friends and they shared many similarities.
“I keep in touch with him obviously as you do with all your mates,” he said.
He argued it was often unavoidable to form “pretty tight” relationships with head coaches, with Dovey working under Tim Nielsen and Mickey Arthur before Lehmann and Langer during his tenure.
He viewed himself as the “trusted right hand man” for each, saying the role was the next best thing to his “boyhood dream” of pulling on the baggy green as a player.
“You spend extraordinary amounts of time together,” he said.
“Your role in that space is generally to help support and facilitate and help them and the captain achieve their vision.
“With ‘JL’, I worked with him when he was batting coach.
“I think we had some similarities and some common interests and maybe wired quite similar in some respects.
“But equally, ‘Boof’ and I were very different in lots ways, and we had a really effective relationship.”
Gavin Dovey named new Cricket NT chief executive officer
A long-term team manager of the Australian cricket team will run Cricket NT from January.
Following a lengthy process, Gavin Dovey beat the likes of former Bangladesh coach and respected Darwin cricketer Shaun Williams to the role.
Dovey will replace Joel Morrison – who was working towards a vision of drawing more emerging countries to the Top End.
Morrison moved to Melbourne in September to take a managerial position with Cricket Australia.
Currently based in London with his wife and three children aged seven, five and two, Dovey will begin in the role in January.
He was team manager when former captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and opener Cameron Bancroft were suspended for their involvement in sandpapering the ball during a test match against South Africa in 2018.
However, at no point did Dovey have a role in the incident nor is it suggested that he knew about it at the time.
Dovey told the NT News there was a time, after he quit as team manager in February this year, when he considered not returning to the sport he loved due to 11 “pretty intense” years.
“I probably didn’t expect I’d go back into cricket,” Dovey said, describing his former role as the “trusted right hand man” of the national coach.
“I probably felt at different points energised or excited maybe at the thought of a new sport.”
However, he said more than a decade within the country’s inner sanctum was an “incredible opportunity” which would ultimately prepare him for the new role.
“I was blessed,” Dovey said.
“It was probably a wave I was going to ride once,
“Hopefully it’s given me a good insight into lots of different aspects of this next challenge.”
He said he stepped down from the position to “recharge the batteries” as it was becoming “unsustainable” with three young children.
“Those sorts of environments are pretty intense ... pretty all consuming,” he said.
“I think I just got to a point where it felt like the right time ... it was the right thing to do.
“I just took a big deep breath ... I was pretty determined to make up for a bit of lost time with my kids and my wife.
“Get a bit of balance back in my life to be honest.
“It felt like a long time since I stopped and had a look around ... and had a bit of normality in my life.”
Meanwhile, when asked if he had consulted with former national coach and close friend Justin Langer about the role, Dovey would only say the 105-Test legend remained an influence on his life.
“He’s one of my best mates, he’s an incredible human being and he did a hell of a job,” Dovey said of Langer’s tenure.
Dovey said he also remained close with ex-national coach Darren Lehmann, who was in charge during the infamous “Sandpapergate” scandal.
“I’m still pretty close with Boof, I loved working with Boof. We got really tight, I like to think he’s a good mate still,” he said.
Having spent close to five years living in London, Dovey said the plan was to eventually return to Australia and he was open-minded about where the next opportunity might lead him.
“I’m excited, it’s back in cricket but from a different perspective,” he said.
“New community, new people in the game.
“I’m excited to be back in a sport that’s been really good to me.
“For whatever reason (the role) lit a fire, before you know it you feel really emotional connected to it.”
He told the NT News he was keen to increase participation within the Indigenous community.
“(I want to) ensure we’re a really attractive choice for Indigenous kids,” Dovey said.
“They see a pathway there, so anybody who has talent feels like they can go on and represent their country.
“We want cricket across the board to be really accessible to everyone in the community, regardless of gender or race.”
He was also keen to bring his own ideas to enhance the peak body’s Cricket 365 program, where he saw “loads more runway”.
“That’s one of the most exciting parts,” he said.
“What that could become is one of the most exciting opportunities.”
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