Amarfio shown door in front of shocked staff as Howard joins exodus

Kevin Roberts made his first key moves as Cricket Australia chief as high-performance boss Pat Howard and another senior executive became the latest casualties in the wake of the damning review into the governing body's corporate culture.

On another day of upheaval at Jolimont, Howard's controversial seven-year reign was brought to an end while the man who oversaw the sport's record TV deal, Ben Amarfio, was dramatically shown the door, reportedly by CA's head of security Sean Carroll in front of shocked staff, as part of a major reshuffle to the management team.

Casualty: Pat Howard is set to leave Cricket Australia earlier than expected.Credit: Anthony Johnson

Though not referred to specifically, Howard and Amarfio are believed to have been heavily criticised by stakeholders in The Ethics Centre's redacted 145-page inquiry commissioned after the ball-tampering scandal.

The announcements follow the resignation last week of chairman David Peever, long-serving board member Mark Taylor on Monday while chief executive James Sutherland left two weeks ago after announcing his resignation in June.

By the end of next week, the head of team performance, coach, captain and vice-captain in office during the fiasco in South Africa will all be gone.

Players and coaches were told of Howard's impending departure on Wednesday morning while others in the cricket world were shocked at the development.

Howard's position was in jeopardy after the events at Newlands, which was the low point in the marked decline of the national men's team's behaviour, but still retained the support of the board and senior management.

The need to enact changes after Dr Simon Longstaff's report meant it was no longer tenable for Howard to see out his contract, which was due to expire after next year's Ashes series. Instead, he will leave next week with former captain Belinda Clark to move from her community cricket portfolio to take over in the interim.

Howard was responsible for the high-performance culture that was savaged by Dr Simon Longstaff for "winning without counting the costs". He fell offside with many players for the sweeping changes he made to domestic cricket and also alienated many during last year's pay dispute.

"It’s a time for reflection and learning, it's a time for us to deepen our relationships. It’s important we show leadership and show we’re not about words but about actions," Roberts, who started in the job two weeks ago, said.

"Pat, in particular, had determined he intended to leave the organisation. Having announced that, we discussed an alternative departure date for Pat.

"It's important at this point in time we give cricket a fresh start and we start looking forward so we can heal and look forward and take the game into the future."

A permanent replacement for the former Wallaby will be named in the new year but Roberts has indicated the successful candidate will have a "deep cricket experience".

Roberts, who was the chief negotiator in the MOU talks last year, defended his appointment as chief executive, saying the review had commended him for his role in other initiatives such as uniting the states and territories, gender pay equity and commitment to community cricket.

Roberts says he is committed to improving relations with the Australian Cricketer's Association.

Amarfio, another polarising figure in CA, was effectively made redundant after the broadcasting, digital media and commercial portfolio was split in two.

His previous role as head of communications and digital was seen as a conflict due to the growth of CA's news website and the need to work with other media.

Unceremonious exit: CA executive Ben Amarfio was shown the door quite literally.Credit: Josh Robenstone

There was controversy after he was named as the CA executive who had ordered his personal assistant to cook him a hot breakfast, which he would consume in front of bemused staff in his office.

The review was critical of CA's arrogant and aggressive dealings with its commercial and broadcast partners.

"It should be noted that similar comments have been made about other negotiations – including between CA and its sponsors and broadcast partners," the review said.

One national team member said: "CA do not enjoy being challenged by commercial sponsors, players and other stakeholders. Not very inclusive of other ideas outside their bubble."

Roberts said there was unlikely to be more changes to CA's senior management once replacements were appointed.