MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Australia’s cricket governing body will recommend its entire board step down in accordance with an independent review that criticised its structure as being riven with conflicts of interests.
The sweeping reform will see Cricket Australia’s (CA) current board of 14 nominated directors from the country’s six state cricket associations replaced by a nine-member panel of non-executive directors with no ties to the states.
The move follows the tabling of a corporate governance review prepared by prominent businessmen David Crawford and Colin Carter, one of a clutch of reports commissioned in the wake of Australia’s Ashes defeat on home soil to bitter rivals England earlier this year.
A previous review on team performance has already shaken up the selectors panel and seen South African Mickey Arthur replace former coach Tim Nielsen, who stepped down after Australia’s recent tour of Sri Lanka.
Cricket Australia’s board structure has long been criticised for being dysfunctional, with its representation skewed in favour of the southern states.
It comprises of three directors from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia states, two each for Western Australia and for Queensland, and one for Tasmania.
As part of the governance review, the imbalance would be swept away and state associations would be given equal power to appoint and remove directors, CA said in a statement on Thursday.
The recommendations would need to be ratified by the states, and any constitutional changes arising would need to be considered at a scheduled board meeting in February, CA chairman Wally Edwards said.
“I’m not expecting a huge push back,” he told local media.
“The old battlegrounds used to be (based on) state interests, but I think a lot of that has dissipated over the last five or seven years.
“There’s been a genuine goodwill around the board to do the right thing by cricket and make good decisions.”
