Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts set to lose job

Kevin Roberts’s fate will be sealed at a board meeting in the next 24 hours and an interim will be appointed.

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts. Picture: Getty Images

Kevin Roberts is set to lose his job as chief executive at Cricket Australia.

The 48-year-old’s fate will be sealed at a board meeting in the next 24 hours and an interim will be appointed.

Members of the Cricket Australia board held an emergency meeting on Sunday and plans are being put in place to ensure a smooth hand over.

Roberts has been criticised from all areas over his handling of the financial crisis that has rocked the game and the board has grown increasingly concerned about his performance.

The decision by the Australian Cricketers Association to file a dispute notice over a financial dispute on Thursday was another blow to the game’s administration.

The game was shocked to learn in April that the pandemic which has struck in the game’s off season had somehow left it financially crippled.

Roberts has some of the most powerful people in Australian cricket resisting his leadership and his position looked weaker with every day that passes.

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NSW, whose withdrawal of support in 2018 led to the removal of former chair David Peever, is particularly unimpressed with the affable former Bankstown player, but is not alone, with Queensland and Tasmanian office holders also upset.

Old complaints have resurfaced. Roberts got the job under Peever, beating a favoured NSW candidate, John Warn, for the position. Other candidates on the short list were Christina Matthews, who is the current chief executive at the WACA, and John Harnden who is, in effect, Roberts’ boss as he remains on the board.

Those upset with Roberts’ appointment to the job in 2018 suggest they were right in their original judgment given the current issues have dragged out into an unfortunate stand-off, much like the MOU dispute in 2017 that he led as COO before being promoted under Peever.

The board is feeling the heat as management has fumbled its response to the crisis on a number of fronts over the past two months.

Around 200 staff were stood down on reduced hours in April. Even Justin Langer found himself demoted to part-time coach. Coach and support staff around both national teams are expected to be among those shown the door this Wednesday.

States were told at the same time their grants would be slashed but NSW and Queensland have refused to budge on this issue.

Those two appear to have gained more support as head office failed to sell its message or convince the two major associations that the financial situation is as bleak as claimed.

Despite the ongoing arguments, around 150 people have been laid off by state associations.

Players, too, have rejected moves by head office to write down projected revenues by around $200m and filed a dispute notice on Thursday that could see the parties in court if a resolution isn’t found.

The prospect of a battle with players after the experiences of the MOU dispute three years ago and the effort put in to rebuild the team’s image after the sandpaper scandal has many on edge.

Cricket Australia has failed to enact almost all of the aims stated by Roberts at the start of the dispute two months ago. A bank facility to bridge the claimed cash crisis is held up, the cuts to player and state grants are still being disputed and staff have remained in a state of anxiety waiting to find out if they have a job.

While the administrators have bumbled about, both rugby league and Australian rules have got their games back on the park and the future of live sport has begun to look better every day.

The government announced on Thursday that crowds of up to 10,000 will be allowed at certain events from July, which bodes well for the summer.

Confidence has been high about the prospect of the Indians touring this summer for over a month now. That tour is critical to cricket’s survival and will bring in at least $300m in revenue and dwarf losses from reduced crowds or other expenses. Claims of a $10m biosecurity bill are small change by comparison.

There is no doubt sponsors will find it harder to invest in the game, but big-ticket items are in place and broadcasters will find less solid ground to argue for any discounts in the manner of the ones conceded by the football codes because matches — apart from a couple of ODIs — have not been lost.

Cricket looks set to deliver on its contract to provide both the Seven Network and Fox Sports with an international summer and the Big Bash Leagues. Even England, which is still in the grip of the pandemic, has convinced the West Indies to enter quarantine on its shores before next month’s international series.

The good news for cricket has put further pressure on Roberts with states and players emboldened about their claims the game is not facing a financial crisis.