States make case to look beyond Cricket Australia for next board chair

An external choice as the next permanent chair of Cricket Australia has become a more likely possibility after the governing body’s state association owners articulated their opposition to a current director taking the post.

In a cordial but clear in-person discussion between CA’s interim chair Richard Freudenstein and the chairs of the six states and two territories - plus the Australian Cricketers Association chair Greg Dyer - the members comprising CA’s ownership made a case for fresh leadership.

Cricket Australia’s leaders met with their state association owners against the backdrop of the Adelaide Oval Ashes Test. Credit: AP

Some figures of the requisite stature would include the former Sport Australia chair John Wylie and ex-captains Steve Waugh, Belinda Clark and Mark Taylor. The CA Board has left open the possibility that in the interests of continuity the next chair should be chosen from among the current nine directors.

Freudenstein, who has held the interim post since Earl Eddings was compelled to resign when he lost the support of three out of six states on the eve of the CA AGM in October, has made it plain in the past two months that he will attempt to listen closely to the state associations.

Issues canvassed in recent months and also discussed at the meeting were broader matters around the governance structure of Australian cricket, with the current nominations committee structure considered a source of some angst among states, who want more say in their choices.

“We will commit to take all those [concerns] on board, and work with the board of CA and with all the member states to work through those issues,” Freudenstein said at the AGM.

“Certainly I will commit that there will be more chair and more ACC meetings in the near future, and I would comment that there are a number of potential chair successors on the board and we’re in the process of going through that now. On the detailed issues, I certainly think it’s worth having a further discussion over the next little while.”

To carry that intention through, CA would need to keep the states “in the loop” for much of the process to determine a new chair, inviting feedback on how the field is narrowing.

Sources told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that possible external candidates for the chair were also discussed at the meeting, which had begun with an update on cricket’s finances by the chief executive Nick Hockley.

Among current directors, the most likely candidates would be the former New South Wales premier Mike Baird, the Epworth Health chief executive Lachy Henderson, and perhaps the current ABC board director and former Minerals Council of Australia chair Vanessa Guthrie.

John Harnden and Michelle Tredenick, the two longest serving directors on the current board, have been influential figures over several years. But they were left somewhat at odds with other directors when Freudenstein stated publicly that the board would have dealt differently with the recent Tim Paine scandal had it been in place in 2018.

Freudenstein has previously commented on the complexities of the chair role, not least the many international commitments it requires as Australia’s foremost representative at the ICC.

“It is quite a demanding role, and I think any candidate that puts themselves forward for that has to be aware of the time responsibilities and willing to commit to them,” he said at the AGM. “I think we need to keep thinking about how we can share responsibilities across the board.”

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter