Arrogant and controlling: Cultural reviews damn Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia has been accused of being "arrogant" and "controlling" and embracing an ethos of "winning without counting the costs" on a day when sobering reviews into the governing body and Australian team highlighted the deficiencies of administrators and players.

Scathing reviews of Australia's cricketing culture have been released, sparked by the ball-tampering incident involving Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.Credit: AP

The long-awaited reports - redacted in parts - into CA's culture, led by Simon Longstaff of The Ethics Centre with another into the team's culture by former Test batsman Rick McCosker, found the sport's administrators were just as much to blame for the ball-tampering scandal and ugly events which sent the game into crisis during the tour of South Africa in March.

These events have already led to the suspensions of players Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, and sparked considerable change at head office in Jolimont - even before the reports landed. These include chief executive James Sutherland stepping aside after 17 years, having been replaced by Kevin Roberts, while high-performance boss Pat Howard will depart next year. New coach Justin Langer and Test captain Tim Paine have begun to usher in cultural reform.

In a damning 145-page report by Longstaff and his team, CA has been accused of consistently not living up to its "values and principles", while there were "multiple instances of disrespect running through CA", including an example of bullying that allegedly was "swept under the carpet".

"The most common description of CA is as 'arrogant' and 'controlling'. The core complaint is that the organisation does not respect anyone other than its own. Players feel that they are treated as commodities. There is a feeling amongst some state and territory associations that they are patronised while sponsors believe their value is defined solely in transactional terms," the report said.

One unnamed response declared that: "CA does not handle situations well when it goes against them. They revert to bully tactics or worse, ostracising! We now need a strong board with a commitment to a way of being that is unimpeachable, that we can be proud of", while an unnamed CA staff member said "we are obsessed with being No.1 but it's fool's gold".

One Australian player declared "CA do not enjoy being challenged by commercial sponsors, players and other stakeholders".

Longstaff's report said the "grief" felt by the public in wake of the ball tampering scandal in Cape Town "was linked to a sense of shame not felt since the days of the perfectly legal - but what many considering unsporting - 'under-arm bowling incident', a shame that our society's ethical malaise had moved from politics, to business, to the churches.

"Responsibility for that larger picture lies with CA and not just the players held directly responsible for the appalling incidents at Newlands."

The report added: "Australian cricket has lost its balance ... and has stumbled badly. The reputation of the game of cricket, as played by men, has been tainted. Women's cricket remains unaffected. The leadership of CA should also accept responsibility for its inadvertent (but foreseeable) failure to create and support a culture in which the will-to-win was balanced by an equal commitment to moral courage and ethical restraint."

James Sutherland has stepped down as CA CEO.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

However, it was pointed out CA had applied the recommendations from the Argus Review in 2011, established to address the team's then poor performance.

"In our opinion, CA's fault is not that it established a culture of 'win at all costs'. Rather, it made the fateful mistake of enacting a program that would lead to 'winning without counting the costs'," the Longstaff report said.

In terms of the events of Cape Town, it was noted an "immense" pressure on players to win in all forms of the game had led "players and support staff to 'redefine' certain forms of cheating as merely 'playing hard to win'."

The report said players pocketed a "fortune" but they lived in a "gilded bubble" and saw themselves as part of a "machine". They were disconnected from the "grounding influence of the community".
"Most resent being seen as a product or asset," the report said. Players, asked to "play the mongrel", could become men they did not want to be as a result of this, the report added.

The players' pact out of the Cricket Australia review.Credit: Cricket Australia

Among 42 recommendations, Longstaff has recommended a cricketing ethics commission be established, comprising three persons, nominated by CA but rubber-stamped by the states, the Australian Cricketers Association and Cricket Umpires Australia. It also wants an Australian Cricket Council configured, with key figures from the sport to meet twice a year to consider "issues of strategic significance" to the sport. CA has supported both recommendations.

After more than a year of bitter feuding, CA and the ACA have been encouraged to have a "constructive working relationship", and told to begin this process within 30 days. This may involve mediation. CA has agreed to this.

It has also been recommended that CA have voting for the Allan Border Medal take into account player behaviour and character and not just on-field performance, akin to the AFL's Brownlow Medal where suspended players cannot claim the award. CA supports this.

In terms of the national team, it has been recommended that the current performance bonus scheme, linked to match and series wins, be changed and converted into a payment without loss to their current remuneration.

Video showing Cameron Bancroft tampering with the ball.

CA supports a recommendation that the role of vice-captain be "de-coupled" from that of "heir apparent" for the captaincy - a move made recently in the Test and one-day international teams. Players with leadership aspirations have been recommended to undertake formal training, including to help improve their "moral courage".

CA is considering a recommendation urging CA-contracted players to be available for a minimum two Sheffield Shield and one grade match per season but the governing body rejected a bid to have players excused from Twenty20 internationals to play Shield and grade cricket.

In the wake of the ugly sledging in South Africa, CA has supported a recommendation for its anti-harassment code to include abusive sledging.

CA says it supports "in principle" executive remuneration linked to the culture of CA and, to a lesser degree, the culture of cricket across the country.

CA has also been urged to conduct a major review of its high-performance unit - Howard is leaving next year - and  encouraged to have anyone associated with the high-performance unit banned from taking part in industrial negotiations with players. Howard had been criticised for his involvement.

CA chairman David Peever said the governing body had already made changes.

"It has been a difficult and confronting time for everyone involved in Australian cricket and, for that, I am sorry. Mistakes have been made, lessons have been learnt, and changes are will continue to take place," he said.

"While, at times, difficult to read and, in some instances, difficult to agree with what has been implied - CA respects the findings of the review and what needs to be done to restore faith and prompt change."

There were 814 surveys handed out as part of the Longstaff report, with 469 responses. But only 24 per cent of players responded.