Todd Greenberg eyes cricket role

Todd Greenberg is a leading candidate to take over as head of the Australian Cricketers Association should he choose the role

Todd Greenberg left the NRL in April Picture: Getty Images

His name was in the ring as a candidate for the chief executive’s job at Cricket Australia, but former NRL chief Todd Greenberg is understood to be more interested in taking a job in the opposite corner of the ring.

The former cricketer who left rugby league mid-year after a falling out with Peter V’landys is a leading candidate to take over as chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association.

The Cricket Australia job pays in the vicinity of $1.5m a year, the ACA job considerably less, and those who have filled it have rarely seen eye-to-eye.

Cricket’s most bitter disputes have occurred when the ACA and CA fell out. In 2016-17, every professional male player in the country was left without a contract when the head body attempted to smash the revenue-share model which had underpinned the professional game in this country.

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Current ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson gave notice last month that after six years in the job he planned to step away in ­December.

While the position does not come with the same headaches as running a sport may, it is demanding. Nicholson took over the role from Paul Marsh, who moved to the AFL Players Association. In his first month he dealt with the tragedy of Phil Hughes’ death and led the resistance against former Rio Tinto boss David Peever’s move to rip up the revenue-share model in 2016-17.

Nicholson had to abandon a family holiday in Africa to fly to Johannesburg when the sandpaper scandal occurred.

Greenberg played cricket for Australia twice at the Maccabiah Games and is currently working for a private equity firm. His name has been attached to a number of senior roles in sport since he left rugby league. He could not be contacted yesterday.

Greenberg fell out with V’landys during the early stages of the pandemic. Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts suffered a similar fate as he attempted to cut costs.

Nick Hockley is the interim replacement for Roberts, with the board saying it will launch an international search for a permanent replacement in the new year.

While the CEO’s position is more prestigious and offers considerably more compensation, there is a suggestion Greenberg is not interested, but would consider the job as boss of the association.

He was on the other side of the negotiating table when rugby league players were granted a historic share of the game’s revenue in 2017, but is known for his sympathies with the players.

One of the key reasons behind Nicholson leaving the post was to give a replacement a chance to learn the ropes ahead of the next MOU, which is due for renewal in 2022.

The next negotiation is likely to begin without the baggage of the last, with most of the key players from that bruising dispute having left since.

Cricket, like all sports, faces a challenging future. The pandemic is massively increasing administration costs and putting pressure on revenue streams. The players’ association had always argued that the revenue share-model ensured they would be partners in good times and bad and the latter times are here.

While it is impossible to get a read of the exact financial situation, cricketers appear likely to be able to get through to the end of this MOU period without any ­significant impact on their pay thanks to extra money accrued in the early years of the deal and stored in what is known as the ­adjustment ledger.

This week the ACA announced it was drawing on those funds to assist players during the crisis.

The association gave $876,000 to top increase retainers of players in the Women’s National Cricket League and allocated almost $500,000 to support WBBL players who have had to give up secondary employment because the tournament is being conducted in a biosecurity bubble.

Another $900,000 has been directed to the BBL pool to assist in the expansion of the number of international players in each side without affecting the contracts of local cricketers.