There’s absolutely nothing new about Ian Chappell getting cranky over cricket administrators, but his latest comments are right on point.
In the fallout of the resignation of Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings, the second time in three years Cricket Australia’s chairman has been forced to fall on his sword Chappell has launched a scathing review of the shortcomings of the game’s administration.
Chappell’s key beef is the lack of cricket experience on the cricket board – hitting out at a succession of suits who had played for “Bankstown fourths, or Richmond thirds”.
“The problem is it won’t make any difference who gets the job,” Chappell told Wide World of Sports on Thursday.
“They’ll appoint a new person to replace him, and it won’t make a scrap of difference. History tells you that nothing will change.
“There’s never been many ex-players on the board, and as I’ve said before, those that are there are mainly window-dressing.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Of the nine board directors, only Mel Jones has played international cricket and Greg Rowell has played first class cricket. Lachlan Henderson played grade cricket in Western Australia, but according to WWOS the other six have little to no playing experience.
“I used to take great delight in pointing out to board members that they hadn’t played the game, and you’d always get the same response, that they’d played for Bankstown fourths, or Richmond thirds, or something like that,” Chappell said.
“And I’d tell them that I played golf as well, but the game I played was a lot different to that which Jack Nicklaus played.
“The same applies to cricket, you’ve got to have an understanding of the game at the highest level. Putting the board together is like picking a cricket team, you’ve got to have a combination. You don’t win cricket games with 11 batters or 11 bowlers.”
Chappell said a chairman without elite experience was a long running problem in Australia.
“Fred Bennett, who later went on to be chairman of the board, managed our side in England in 1975. About a week into the tour he called me up to his room and told me he wanted to send Jeff Thomson home, for some really minor incident,” Chappell said.
“I asked him if he had all the air tickets in the safe in the corner, because if he was sending Thommo home he may as well have sent the rest of us home as well, because he obviously wasn’t interested in winning.
“If you’re wanting to send Jeff Thomson home for something trivial, it’s clear you don’t understand the game. And yet a few years later Fred ends up as chairman of the board.”
He said his brother Greg Chappell had been discouraged from trying to become CA chairman when he briefly served on the board.
“There’s got to be a change in mindset from the board, they’ve got to encourage former players to want to be members of the board, with the chance of getting the top spot if they want it,” he said.
“The biggest issue at the moment is getting the board sorted out. But do I think it will happen? No.”
Exitstrategy
Roar Rookie
Thanks All Day , I’ve been listening to few podcasts suggesting the States need more direct input . Governance seems as a layman to be quite top heavy . Appreciate the explanation .
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Presumably their key role is to guide/approve/fine tune overall strategy and keep an eye on how CEO and his team are doing. To do that you need a range of skills as you and others have said here - financial, marketing, media, legal, government relations and one or two ex-players. The Board shouldn’t be about how the national teams are playing in detail, which is where ex-players have more to add, though you can always talk to current and recent players and coaches without them being on the board. I would have thought that it would be just as important to have people plugged into grassroots cricket as former internationals, so Richmond and Bankstown third graders sounds like a plus!
AJ73
Roar Rookie
I thought it was Union, as the school he taught (in the 70's) at has a strong Union culture.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
CA overhauled its governance process 10 years ago, to make its board independent of the States as follows- 9 directors in total. 6 of the directors are one resident from each State. All 25 million Australians are eligible. However a State association director can't also be a CA director, ruling out about 60 State cricket administrators. A State association can nominate its preferred director, but CA's board and nominations sub-committee can then reject them as unsuitable. In theory, each State is still "represented," but without a State association controlling their representative's vote. The 3 additional directors can be from anywhere. They are chosen by CA's board to fill any skills gaps eg law, finance, media, politics, ex-player. Could be three lawyers, or three Tasmanians. So all 9 directors are independent of the States. Nobody wears two hats to create conflicts of interest. 25 million eligible persons means in theory that the very best 9 can be appointed. One downside can be the lack of direct connections with grassroots cricket. State boards are filled with Grade club presidents, ex-players etc. CA's board seems to have a lot of businesspeople who lack those backgrounds, and also sit on many other companies' boards. They don't have "skin in the game." The States gave up their CA board control in return for financial and other benefits. However as owners/shareholders of Australian cricket, they retained some relatively-limited powers that they could exercise by voting together. Hence the State associations rolling CA's chairman even though CA's independent directors unanimously supported him, and calling for a review of CA governance to claw back some powers given up in good faith 10 years ago.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Absolutely! :thumbup:
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
It was a pretty good trick though, Micko
Alex Henderson
Guest
I don't believe it is necessary to have played at the highest level to be an administrator. If it was, it's interesting to note that Chappell has never, to my knowledge, volunteered himself - presumably he finds it easier to carp from the sidelines. To run a multi-hundred million $ business such as Australian cricket, you need someone who is able to read a balance sheet. That is unlikely to be a former Test cricketer.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
That’s where he first coached rugby I believe
AJ73
Roar Rookie
To be fair, Packer did get the right people around him to make sure it was a success. He loved cricket, so the need for change and then drove it. He got lots of cricket nous to support him, though if I remember correctly, it was a "Strop" from the Paul Hogan show that did a lot of the leg work - what is his cricket record like though? You need the right mix
AJ73
Roar Rookie
Alan Jones was a school teacher first before becoming joining radio
Lance Boil
Roar Rookie
There are no where near enough capable people on the planet to fill all the boards in all the boardrooms.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Lillee was good enough to deal with it as he had a lot more to his repertoire than Thommo, who was a one trick pony.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Try telling that to Lillee when gave the wind to Thommo.
Exitstrategy
Roar Rookie
I agree it does that’s what makes it so disheartening
Exitstrategy
Roar Rookie
Welcome to your CA Cricket Board https://www.cricketaustralia.com.au/about/our-board How is the board appointed ? Does anyone understand the process ?
David
Guest
Chappell, like Warne, like to mouth off all the time about how the game is run, selectors, coach and the board. Yet he’s never put is hand up to try administrator the game, which is odd, given he apparently knows best at everything. Very hard to respect someone like that.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Because it was relevant and iconic to playing at the Waca. Nowhere else did you need a specialist "into the breeze" bowler around Australia (or most places around the world).
Micko
Roar Rookie
Shame it's behind a paywall. I assume you disagree with this Joe Aston fella then?
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I am. The moniker is from when I was in SA 6 years ago. It went with me
Micko
Roar Rookie
You’re based in the UK? Never knew! :shocked: