Top Cricket Australia execs out as Greenberg swings the axe to save cash

Fifteen staff members have been axed and the head of the national teams removed from the executive team as Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg tightens the belt in his first few months in the job.

CA staff were informed of the changes on Tuesday, with two executives – head of people and culture Allison Robison and head of technology Don Elliott – to depart the organisation and Ben Oliver removed from Greenberg’s executive team. Most redundant employees will leave CA by the end of the month.

New Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg.Credit: Wayne Taylor

A CA spokesperson confirmed the changes to this masthead, which are the biggest cutbacks since a raft of staff were made redundant during COVID-19.

The overhaul, which comes just months after Greenberg started in the top job, was the result of long hours that he spent in Jolimont in April, during the customary office shutdown at the end of the cricket season. He was sequestered with members of the finance team, looking for ways to take costs out of the CA balance sheet.

The CA board, chaired by Mike Baird, has a strategic goal of restoring the governing body’s cash reserves to the kinds of $100 million-plus levels it enjoyed before the pandemic. The 2024 annual report stated that CA had around $25 million cash and cash equivalents up its sleeve.

Also leaving CA is Megan Barnett-Smith, the head of social impact and sustainability. Her areas of responsibility, including the governing body’s Indigenous reconciliation action plan, will be spread across the remaining executives.

Longtime head of sports science and former men’s team physio Alex Kountouris is another significant figure to exit. His role will be restructured.

Oliver, who remains a key link man between the No.1-ranked men’s and women’s national teams and the top levels of the organisation, will no longer be on the executive. He will report into the executive general manager of cricket, James Allsopp, who had his role expanded last year to cover all levels of cricket, not just junior and community participation.

Former chief of staff Jodie Newton’s role has been expanded to head of people and strategy.

Greenberg and Baird are soon to unveil a Boston Consulting Group report into how to ensure the Big Bash League is the world’s second-best Twenty20 league after the IPL. This review is almost certain to recommend selling off stakes in the BBL’s eight clubs, following on from the estimated $2 billion windfall generated by the ECB when selling off portions of its teams in the Hundred.

Greenberg (right) with CA chair Mike Baird.Credit: Getty Images

And while last summer’s visit by India was seen to be highly successful, including a record attendance for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, there is still some devil in the financial details.

The $250 million deal with JioStar to broadcast the Border-Gavaskar series into India will not return a large chunk of its cash until India return for white-ball matches this summer ahead of the Ashes.

England’s visit is set to be broadcast by TNT Sports in the UK, but on a one-year deal for less money than CA wanted to reap from the British market amid little competitive tension in the broadcast market given Sky’s lack of interest in the rights.

CA is under pressure from its state association owners to find cost savings to ensure that every last available dollar is distributed to the states: $117 million was dispersed to the states and territories in 2024.

Greenberg and Baird, meanwhile, are due to fly to Singapore this week to take part in the International Cricket Council’s annual conference. It’s the first to be overseen by its new Indian chair Jay Shah and his recently appointed chief executive, Sanjog Gupta, the former head of sports at JioStar.

Chief among the issues at stake in Singapore will be how the calendar will be reshaped after 2027, when the current future tours program expires. Cricket’s “big three” of India, England and Australia have already signed off on bilateral touring agreements with each other until 2031.

But the rapid growth of T20 leagues and the prospect of more – including a possible Saudi Arabia league and also a mooted return of the T20 Champions League – are only creating more pressure on the system.

As first reported by this masthead, the concept of splitting Test cricket into two divisions will be among many options discussed in Singapore. A possible qualifying tournament for places at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will also be on the agenda, after cricket’s inclusion with six-team competitions for men and women.

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