Lillee: Matthews must apologise to former WACA board members

Clashes between fast-bowling great Dennis Lillee and Australia’s most capped female cricketer and self-described progressive Christina Matthews has been one of the big shows of 2023 in Perth.

Fast-bowling great Dennis Lillee wants Christina Matthews to apologise for what he says are her incorrect claims that her gender was a factor in the resignations of WACA board members.

The WACA war is ratcheting up. Clashes between fast-bowling great Dennis Lillee and Australia’s most capped female cricketer and self-described progressive Christina Matthews has been one of the big shows of 2023 for Perth cricket fans.

These two self-assured personalities entered each other’s orbits because Ms Matthews is the chief executive of the historic WACA ground where Lillee played for Australia and where he was later president. They appear to have very different ideas about how to run the place.

Now Lillee wants Ms Matthews to apologise for what he says are her incorrect claims that her gender was a factor in the resignations of WACA board members this year. Whether or not Ms Matthews’ gender has been an issue during her decade at the helm of the WACA was examined in a confidential report.

Outgoing WA Cricket chief executive officer Christina Matthews. Picture: Supplied

According to a letter from chair Avril Fahey to WACA members, the report found three of the board members resigned in part because they disagreed with the direction that WA Cricket was headed. They told the report author, lawyer James Healy, that they felt there was a negative tone at meetings and that management was setting the strategy.

“Mr Healy found that the issue of gender, as described by the CEO in a radio interview with Liam Bartlett, was not a substantive reason for any of the resignations,” Ms Fahey wrote.

In September, after five WACA board members resigned, Ms Matthews told Perth radio station 6pr: “My relationship with the board as a whole is fine, it’s no surprise to anybody that (in) my entire tenure here, traditionalists have not been happy with having a female progressive CEO.

“I’ve lived with that for 10 years; the fact that people still are concerned about me and the way I manage is just day-to-day business for me,” Ms Matthews said.

At that point the interviewer, Liam Bartlett, said: “Come on, Christina, that is really not fair to those board members is it? Are you saying that it is a gender issue?”

Ms Matthews replied: “Absolutely … I can tell you over 10 years my style or not has absolutely been related to my gender. And I am happy to debate that any time anywhere”.

Lillee told The Weekend Australian in a statement: “As I understand it, gender issues were found not to be a factor in the ­resignations; however, Christina Matthews went public saying they were. Before she leaves, she needs to unconditionally withdraw her comments and apologise to those concerned and the public for that false allegation.”