Mark Taylor has urged everybody involved in Australian cricket to hit reset then rebuild together, listing Simon Katich, Belinda Clark and Alex Blackwell as contenders to take his vacant place on Cricket Australia’s board.
Taylor on Monday became CA’s third director to resign this year, following David Peever and Bob Every out the door.
A series of spot fires and spats have engulfed the sport in the aftermath of last week’s scathing independent report, commissioned following the sandpaper scandal.
CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) are at loggerheads over the Cape Town trio’s suspensions, as they were during last year’s ugly pay dispute.
There is also fresh friction between the states and CA amid the power vacuum created by Peever’s recent resignation.
Every, who quit in protest at Peever’s “substandard” leadership earlier this year then last week declared his interest in returning to the board as chairman, has been publicly criticised by CA director Tony Harrison and Queensland Cricket chairman Sal Vasta.
“It hurts me a lot. I don’t like it. I really don’t,” Taylor said, when asked about the infighting.
“They’ve got some work to do at Cricket Australia but it’s a great opportunity for a reset.
“For all of us to change for the good and start working out how we can actually work together for the good of Australian cricket.”
Taylor’s exit leaves Michael Kasprowicz as the only former first-class or international player on CA’s board, a worrying result given the “commercialisation of cricket“ was among many concerns flagged by The Ethics Centre.
“There’s a good opportunity for a women’s cricketer,” the former Test skipper said, when asked who might replace him on the board.
“Alex Blackwell is on the board of Cricket NSW. Belinda Clark, who works at Cricket Australia – although she’s doing a very fine job there.
“I see people like Simon Katich talked about a lot and I’m probably leaving out half a dozen.”
There is speculation ACA president Greg Dyer could also resign this week.
“I’m not here to give anyone a hard time,” Taylor, when asked about the tenability of Dyer’s position.
“I’m not here to point the finger at he, the ACA, it’s Cricket Australia as well. We’ve both got to do it better and think about what is in the best interests of the game.”
The ACA executive released a statement thanking Taylor for his service, noting the former opener’s “common sense and goodwill were instrumental” in ending last year’s pay dispute.
MJ
Guest
Agree that painting the employer as the enemy is bad, however in this case it was CA who ran a media campaign against the players in order to undermine the 20 year old revenue sharing pay agreement. There were numerous attempts to shame players, while at the same time trying to bribe the most recognised players with more money. CA started a war with the people who provide the product they're trying to sell, without even bothering to explain why it (CA) couldn't keep doing it's job with 75% of cricket's revenue. There was a brief mention of grassroots funding but that was predicable as it was underwhelming. I'm glad that the players and ACA made the effort to continue the revenue sharing model as that (to me) is fair and equitable. Simply put, it was a bad move by CA, and they're reaping the consequences. Having said all of that, stacking the board with former players is not the ideal solution in my book. Am distrustful of the old boys clan that has infected cricket and many other sports where it becomes all about who knows who rather than good ideas and results. While there are a handful of players that would do an outstanding job, there needs to be input from people who have some commercial experience as well as a love of cricket. That the outgoing chairman had a history in a business infamous for pay disputes doesn't mean that everyone after him will follow in his footsteps.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Anytime where the employer is seen as the enemy that needs to be fought against things are always just going to get worse and worse, and it never leads to good results. There has clearly been a lot of bad blood between those in charge in CA and the players for some time, and it's not really surprising that this has then coincided with one of the worst periods of performance for the Australian cricket team in living memory. There is a lot of healing needed, and lots of changes needed in how things are done. And if there are any others in positions of power, on either side, who's previous actions make it impossible to really move forward and improve things then they need to go. Definitely need a much better representation of former players on the board. Really, it should be mostly former players with a few corporate types, not mostly corporate types with a couple of former players!