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The ball tampering saga

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K 



Joined: 09 Sep 2011


PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:55 am
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David Peever's defiance could not cover the gaping holes in his technique

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/david-peever-s-defiance-could-not-cover-the-gaping-holes-in-his-technique-20181031-p50d7y.html

Quote:
...
The report, commissioned after the ball tampering crisis in South Africa, said CA was "not collaborative" and behaved in a "dictatorial" style with stakeholders. Internally, there was a culture of "blame-shifting", the report found, a lack of respect between departments while instances of bullying were also highlighted.

Most damning of all for an organisation that has viewed the players as being solely responsible for the shambles at Newlands, CA was found to have contributed to the creation of the "winning without counting the costs" culture "that made ball-tampering more likely than not".

Peever, however, was adamant cricket would move forward - with him still at the helm. Chief executives from South Australia and Queensland, and Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin publicly endorsed Peever on Tuesday but by midweek NSW and Victoria had not expressed support. A phone call from Cricket NSW chairman John Knox triggered his resignation on Thursday afternoon, a week to the day he had been re-elected blind.
...

Peever's defiance, however, could not cover the gaping holes in his technique. His performance on Monday after the release of Dr Longstaff's review was widely panned. His take-home message was the review had been commissioned voluntarily, CA had looked in the mirror, he had accepted responsibility, but not the consequences.

He fared even worse that night on the ABC's 7:30 program when he described the events in South Africa, which have led to lengthy suspensions to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft and the appointments of a new coach and new captains - not to mention damage to the game's reputation in Australia and overseas - as a mere "hiccup".

... "Didn't he say 'the buck stops with me'? I seem to recall hearing that or reading that somewhere. I mean if the buck stopped with him, he'd be gone," Chappell said on 7:30.

"When the fiasco in Cape Town occurred I said if it's only three people — being Smith, Warner and Bancroft — if only three get it in the neck then it's a joke. Well, I think it's now officially a joke.

"Quite rightly the players are going to be angry about that, the fact it's only them who copped it in the neck.

"But that's the history of the game. The administrators make the mistake, the players cop the punishment," he continued. "If things are going astray on the field they are usually going astray off the field. And I think they've been going astray for a while."
...

Senior people in government who have dealt with him are not surprised cricket now finds itself in this situation under Peever's watch. Others have noted Peever is "out of his depth".
...



Bowled over by a stinging cultural report, cricket hopes to heal

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/bowled-over-by-a-stinging-cultural-report-cricket-hopes-to-heal-20181102-p50dmy.html

Quote:
...
One former senior Cricket Australia employee said CA had lost sight of what its role was.

"When you read that report, not every executive and board member did the survey, which is an issue itself. Why did they have a higher opinion of how the organisation was tracking than anyone else?" he said.

"The other thing to come out of the report was perspective, humility and making sure we remember why we exist and what is the role here. What are we trying to do? There are elements of the business that have lost sight of that. Not all elements can be run like a business. Some elements need to be run as a sport and realise we are not dealing with stakeholders and customers and shareholders, we are dealing with people and volunteers and things that can't be measured.

"Here we are with a non-profit organisation but sometimes the easiest KPI to hit is a measurable dollar figure or participation or a bank account number, rather than how do you put a value on people's love for the game and its rightful place in our heritage and culture and who we are and define what makes up Australia."

...
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K 



Joined: 09 Sep 2011


PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:07 am
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Every 'did not show leadership' as Cricket Australia director at Newlands

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/every-did-not-show-leadership-as-cricket-australia-director-at-newlands-20181103-p50dtb.html

Quote:

Aspiring Cricket Australia chairman Bob Every has been slammed for his performance as director on duty when the ball-tampering crisis erupted in Cape Town with claims he should never have allowed Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft to front a now infamous press conference.
...

Long-time CA director Tony Harrison said on Saturday it was Every’s responsibility, as the director on tour, to have fronted the sandpaper scandal after play on the third day of the third Test at Newlands.

Queensland Cricket chairman Sal Vasta, a member of the CA board nominations committee, said it was Every’s shortcomings in South Africa that led the committee to reach a preliminary finding in April that he should not serve another three years.
...

“Directors are over there on duty representing Cricket Australia, it’s not a holiday,” said Harrison, who retired at the CA annual general meeting on October 25 after 16 years on the board.

“If issues do arise then the expectation is a director, as the senior person representing Australian cricket, would step in. Had I been in South Africa I would have stepped in and would have fronted the media conference instead of the players.”
...

It has now emerged that in the days before he quit and lashed out at Peever, Every’s reappointment to the board for a further three years had been opposed by Vasta at a meeting of members of the four-person nominations committee in Melbourne.
...

Every responded on Saturday, saying he had offered his services to the Australian team on the day at Newlands and did not hear back.

“I was sitting with the chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, and I made the comment that I was there and would be happy to get involved if [team] management wanted me to," Every told Fairfax Media. "Nobody came back to me."
...
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:23 am
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'At odds': Taylor adds fuel to spat over ball-tampering bans

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/at-odds-taylor-adds-fuel-to-spat-over-ball-tampering-bans-20181104-p50dw2.html

Quote:

Australian cricket has plunged into further crisis, with tensions between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association exploding amid claims the players' body failed to take into consideration the mental well-being of the three men suspended for their involvement in the ball tampering scandal.

Mark Taylor, the former Test captain, the longest-serving CA board director and typically a measured interviewee, has taken aim at ACA president Greg Dyer and chief executive Al Nicholson.
...

"Yes, I am critical and I have tried not to be. Chappelli said I may have been 'window dressing' - I can tell you I have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months, in particular, to try to get a better relationship between the cricketers and the board and Cricket Australia," he said on Channel Nine's Sports Sunday.

"And I was disappointed with the events of Tuesday because only 22 hours after the release of the findings, straight away the ACA have had a press conference and said 'all right, we are now here, we now want those bans reduced'.

"And what they have done, and I can't actually think if they have asked the players if they wanted that done, the three players have to now either file in behind them. That puts, straightaway, the cricketers' association and Cricket Australia at odds because we are going to have this debate now in the public arena whether they should be released or not.

"The problem is, once again, in the words of Longstaff, a 'win without counting the costs'. The cost will be the three players in the middle and their culture and their mental health over the next month, two months, however long it takes, or maybe two weeks, to get this sorted out."
...

The ACA has said the move to reduce the bans was its own decision but it had consulted the players and their management. The ACA insists the bans are too long, but CA says the bans were enforced for bringing game into disrepute, not for ball tampering, and has indicated the bans will not be lifted. As the bans were implemented by CA, the ACA says CA has the power to make change.

An ACA spokesman hit back at Taylor.

“Mark’s comments are disappointing and unnecessary. The ACA’s submission was provided to Cricket Australia appropriately and dispassionately with the players' welfare at heart," he said.
...




[Comment: it's difficult to think of anyone within CA who will come out of this affair looking good. I don't know how any of them can start mentioning the players' "mental health" now, when they showed scant regard to it at the time the penalty was handed down. Emphasising that it was for "bringing [the] game into disrepute" is laughable; no player has brought the game into more disrepute than Sutherland, Peever, Howard, and a host of other parasitic administrators.]
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:07 pm
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'I hope it stops with me': Taylor calls for end to cricket bloodletting

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/taylor-resigns-from-cricket-australia-board-as-turmoil-continues-20181105-p50e2o.html

Quote:
...
Four days after chairman David Peever quit, the former Test captain resigned from the CA board on Monday, saying the post had “taken its toll”, particularly in the months since the ball tampering scandal erupted and in the tumultuous past week since the release of the Longstaff ethics report.

Taylor had served for 13 years in two stints as a CA director and admitted he had nearly walked away last year following the governing body’s nasty pay war with players.
...

Behind the scenes there is an appetite among some for more blood. New chief executive Kevin Roberts, the frontman of the MOU dispute and CA’s former head of people and culture, and team performance chief Pat Howard are notable targets.
...

The players’ union was quick to praise Taylor on Monday. “What is largely unknown to the public, were Mark’s behind the scenes efforts to resolve last year's MOU dispute,” the ACA executive said in a statement. “His common sense and goodwill were instrumental and we thank him for this.”
...

It is the board’s policy to have two former Test cricketers sitting as directors at any one point so there will be a desire to have another ex-player join fellow director Michael Kasprowicz.

“I think there’s a good opportunity for a women’s cricketer,” Taylor said.
...

The board is likely to be reluctant to have a new director who also has media commitments.




cricinfo's report:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25181319/mark-taylor-resigns-cricket-australia-board-director
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Joined: 09 Sep 2011


PostPosted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:30 pm
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M. Knox (last Friday):

Only one man can pull Australian cricket back from the brink

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/only-one-man-can-pull-australian-cricket-back-from-the-brink-20181101-p50di7.html

Quote:

Cricket in Australia is speeding towards a civil war and only one man can stop it.
...

The players’ union has made a formal request to Cricket Australia, which has shown no inclination to remove or moderate the bans.
...

I won’t insult your intelligence by proposing that Roberts is the man who can bring peace. Even less his former boss, David Peever. If the week has made one thing clear, it’s CA’s utter surrender of all moral authority in the real world.

Peever’s manoeuvrings to keep his position were not just comically transparent, but ultimately irrelevant. Whoever sits in the chair is powerless to stop the coming civil war.
...

Both sides hold their opinions passionately, and technology now gives everyone a way of making themselves heard. When India do come here and the Australian batting order has its first collapse, watch that passion erupt. More than any schism in memory, "Let them play" has the potential to turn Australians against each other – and, more profoundly and permanently, against cricket. It can split cricket beyond repair. It probably has already. It’s that serious.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association is acting in its members’ interest by petitioning for a review. The new broadcasters are understood to be pressuring CA. Many current and past players are agitating for "Let them play". They are all within their rights, but if those players return this summer in the hour of their team’s need, there will be a monumental counter-reaction. Expediency will again have triumphed and a large part of cricket will die. If winning means that much to them, they haven’t seen half the costs yet.

A similar alienation will take hold if CA upholds the bans. Australia have never lost a home Test series to India. Reality will bite hard. The condemnation of the bans will turn poisonous. And spare a thought for the 11 players on the field; who would wish on them the pressure of representing Australia while half the country is calling for the reinstatement of two disgraced champions?
...

... [I]n the eyes of the public, off-field staff have never held moral authority; in the hearts of Australians, the leader of the game is still the Test captain.

With apologies to the admirable Tim Paine, the leader of Australian cricket is Smith. Highly likely, Smith will again be the on-field captain in two years' time. Whether he wants it or not, Smith holds the solution to the current strife in his hands.

So far, in his silence, Smith has given tacit consent to the ACA’s "Let them play" petition. While he remains silent, Smith can be understood to support the push. But does he really have what it takes to accept responsibility and again lead Australian cricket? We’re about to find out.

Smith alone can bring peace by publicly stating that he accepts his ban and does not want the "Let them play" movement to go any further. (Warner and Bancroft, who will never hold leadership positions, are extraneous to the debate.)
...

There is one other thing. CA has already spared Smith and Warner from investigation over what could have been the prime focus after Cape Town, which was to find out for how long these players had been cheating. Allegations have been made by other teams, there is ample circumstantial evidence, and even Border repeated this week that ball tampering has been going on in the Australian team for a long time.

These questions have gone uninvestigated and unanswered. CA has not wanted to go down that path – for obvious reasons – omitted it, glaringly, from the Longstaff review’s terms of reference. Smith and Warner are lucky that there is so little appetite in Australia to open that can of worms. The banned players have been unfairly isolated, but that isn’t the same as saying they have been hard done by.
...



[Comment: I don't agree with Knox. Stay silent, Steve. Civil war might be a good thing for the game, though international war would be better --- the other national cricket boards and the ICC are at least as morally bankrupt as CA.]
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:19 pm
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Comparisons (rugby & the banks):

Cricket comparisons wide of the mark, but good news hid rugby's woes

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/rugby-union/cricket-comparisons-wide-of-the-mark-but-good-news-hid-rugby-s-woes-20181105-p50e6n.html

"But it is a legitimate and important question to ask why the then-Australian Rugby Union buried the "independent cultural review" it went to the trouble of commissioning and announcing back in May 2015, when the sport was still reeling from the resignation of Ewen McKenzie and the state unions were gleefully blocking moves towards centralisation."


'Win at all costs': Cricket and banks caught tampering with ethics

https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/win-at-all-costs-cricket-and-banks-caught-tampering-with-ethics-20181106-p50eal.html

"There are echoes of the banking royal commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s inquiry into Commonwealth Bank in the Ethics Centre’s review of Cricket Australia’s culture and governance frameworks that was issued to such destabilising effect last week."


[Comment: Is this true? I sort of assumed the banks got off lightly and have simply continued doing what they do.]
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 10:05 am
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Katich rules himself out of Cricket Australia board role

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/katich-rules-himself-out-of-cricket-australia-board-role-20181107-p50efp.html

Quote:
...
"There are more answerable at the moment than those who have paid the price," he said.

"Our high performance system needs to be looked at, obviously Pat Howard is responsible for that and Greg Chappell is also responsible. I don't think this has ended yet."
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 5:42 pm
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Howard joins exodus from Cricket Australia

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/howard-joins-exodus-from-cricket-australia-20181107-p50eht.html

Quote:
...
CA's general manager of broadcasting, digital media and commercial Ben Amarfio left on Wednesday...

Howard will leave next week ahead of his previously flagged finish date, after next year's Ashes series. Belinda Clark will take over from Howard with a permanent replacement to be named in the new year.

Howard, a former Wallaby, was responsible for the high performance culture...
...

Amarfio had helped engineer the record $1.182 billion TV deal but there was disharmony over CA's negotiation tactics with stakeholders. He had copped criticism for having his PA cook him hot breakfasts at work.

There was no room for Amarfio, who was effectively made redundant. His broadcasting, digital media and commercial portfolio has been split into two with Stephanie Beltrame to fill the new role as interim EGM broadcasting and commercial.
...



cricinfo:

Pat Howard pushed out early as Cricket Australia purge continues

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25200525/pat-howard-pushed-early-cricket-australia-purge-continues

Quote:
...
"While Pat Howard has previously made clear his intentions not to renew his contract next year, it has been decided to bring forward his departure which will take effect next week after a handover," a CA said in a statement.
...

...[A] recruitment process has been undertaken to replace Howard.
...

The CA digital team, previously under Amarfio, will be moved to the Events and Leagues department under Anthony Everard with the department being renamed Fan Engagement.
...



cricket.com.au:

Howard, Amarfio depart CA

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/pat-howard-ben-amarfio-cricket-australia-executive-kevin-roberts/2018-11-07

Quote:
...
The new CA executive team as confirmed today is:

Kevin Roberts - CEO

Anthony Everard - EGM Fan Engagement

Belinda Clark - Interim EGM Team Performance

Christine Harman - General Counsel & Company Secretary

Karina Keisler - EGM Communications and Stakeholder Engagement

Kieran McMillan - Interim EGM Community Cricket

Mike Osborne - GM Technology

Raj Tapper - GM People and Culture

Stephanie Beltrame - Interim EGM Broadcasting & Commercial

Todd Shand - CFO

Nick Hockley - CEO ICC World T20 (reports to Board of Local Organising Committee)



[Comment: "[A] recruitment process has been undertaken to replace Howard." Should I apply for this job? Will it count against me if I have not been a Wallaby?]
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 6:44 pm
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Howard's exit marks changing of the guard at Cricket Australia

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/howard-s-exit-marks-changing-of-the-guard-at-cricket-australia-20181107-p50ek2.html

Quote:

In the end, Pat Howard had to go. If he could not read the writing on the wall at the time of the ball-tampering storm, then he should have last week when the Ethics Centre review applied the blowtorch.

In truth, he needed only to look as far as page two of the 2011 Argus review, which provided the raison d'etre for the post he held for the past seven years: "[C]reate a single point of accountability within CA for Australian Team Performance."
...

He was a divisive figure who brought new ideas to cricket, as he was entitled to by the Argus review. There were bowling workloads, diaries and apps. It's not difficult to find long-timers in the game critical of the former Wallaby. He undeniably suffered for being an outsider telling them how their sport should be run, though an insider may have been more judicious in making change.
...

Howard was a numbers man, process-driven and a hard worker. He championed the controversial pathways system that has been panned by current and former players and by Dr Longstaff's review.
...

Players believed potential was rewarded over performance. They were also unhappy with how the Sheffield Shield, which for all bar the elite would be the highest level they would reach, was being used as a guinea pig – from a change to the points system to the use of Dukes balls.

Former selector Rod Marsh, though a fan of Howard, described him as a "micromanager" in his autobiography. Others said it was Pat's way or the highway.
...
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:02 pm
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The updated article 'Howard joins exodus from Cricket Australia' above now reads:

Amarfio shown door in front of shocked staff as Howard joins exodus

Quote:
...
Ben Amarfio, was dramatically shown the door, reportedly by CA's head of security Sean Carroll in front of shocked staff...

Though not referred to specifically, Howard and Amarfio are believed to have been heavily criticised by stakeholders in The Ethics Centre's redacted 145-page inquiry commissioned after the ball-tampering scandal.
...

There was controversy after he was named as the CA executive who had ordered his personal assistant to cook him a hot breakfast, which he would consume in front of bemused staff in his office.
...



https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/amarfio-shown-door-in-front-of-shocked-staff-as-howard-joins-exodus-20181107-p50eht.html


And video of Kevin Roberts answering media questions:

Roberts explains executive shake-up

https://www.cricket.com.au/video/kevin-roberts-ceo-explains-departure-of-pat-howard-ben-amarfio-cricket-australia/2018-11-07
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:32 am
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For Nicksters quietly asking themselves: "Who the **** is Ben Amarfio?", here is J. Aston in AFR, April 2, 2018.

Lamborghinis and hot breakfasts: Australian cricket all about 'values'!

https://www.afr.com/brand/rear-window/lamborghinis-and-hot-breakfasts-australian-cricket-all-about-values-20180402-h0y882

Quote:
...
Then there's another CA executive, Ben Amarfio, who earned the moniker "Johnny Rivers" in 2016 when he was busted moonlighting as a Secret Agent Man for sports commentator James Brayshaw. That's right, the executive managing cricket's $120 million per year broadcast partnerships was approaching broadcasters pitching the services of a mate.

The broadcasters were appalled and unsurprised. This kind of behaviour from Amarfio was already fabled. Most mornings, in full view of his speechless colleagues at Jolimont, he had his secretary cook and serve him a hot breakfast in his glass-encased office. "Where's the Worcestershire sauce?!" he famously thundered. What else would you expect from Eddie McGuire's former sales director at Triple M's Hot Breakfast?

Typically, Sutherland bagged these reports before he even bothered (not) to investigate them. And the CA board? Silence. If it weren't for the all-expenses-paid trips to Lord's, you wouldn't even know CA had directors! Geez, thanks for that governance review Don Argus – you did for cricket what you did for banking and mining.
...

Way back in 2013, Amarfio reckoned scandal "actually creates a lot more interest in your brand and your sport" and that "it's not always such a bad thing to get negative press", referring to rugby league's string of them. "The NRL has had players assault women, players assault policemen, they've had drugs, corruption and match-fixing issues – the list goes on and on. And yet they've just signed a TV deal … almost 50 per cent bigger than their last [one]." Johnny Rivers quickly qualified his comments, adding that "I only worry about it when it gets to the stage [of] immoral or doing something illegal". Other than domestic violence, assaulting a police officer, drugs, corruption and match-fixing?
...



On the hot breakfasts theme, his most recent tweet, more than six years ago, reads:

"Ate half the box! Friday afternoon ritual for me"
29 Mar 2012


On Amarfio's apparent delight in controversy (and much, much more), here is Gideon Haigh in The Australian, March 30, 2018.

CA finally gets one over Warner

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/steve-smith-david-warner-sent-home-but-who-will-judge-the-cricket-australia-suits/news-story/4b1dcce97ba702a6fef06f99c4eafe15

Quote:
...
One was reminded this last week of the conference five years ago where CA’s commercial chief Ben Amarfio argued that controversy in sport was not a problem — it could even be advantageous.

Citing rights deals signed by the Australian Football League and National Rugby League amid cycles of negative publicity about drugs, violence and corruption, Amarfio argued that “noise” in “the media” actually created “a lot more interest in your brand and your sport” by generating “a lot of discussion and debate”.
...

Howard is an energetic and meticulous technocrat, with a propensity for spitting out data reminiscent of Mr Memory in The 39 Steps. He is also oblivious to his limitations and dismissive of criticism, perhaps overcompensating for his lack of cricket background.
...

Smith’s boyish exterior hides … well, a boyish interior. He lives for cricket, which is just as well ­because the system offers him nothing else, except money, in quantities barely meaningful anyway.
...

Yet Bancroft was in his way the system’s most studious disciple — cricket’s equivalent of the company man, carefully nurtured and promoted, encouraged and lauded for his self-sacrificing dedication to the team culture.

So the “suits” arrived to pass judgment on the system they helped build and the individuals they effectively groomed, ridding themselves into the bargain of the troublesome Warner.
...

For many years CA has looked on enviously at its cross-town rival the AFL; it now finds itself equally unloved, but with an inferior story to tell and sell.

Who will judge the suits for that? Because someone must.




On Amarfio being "shown the door", J. Pierik:

Inside story: A farewell hug but will cricket's bloodletting end?

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/inside-story-a-farewell-hug-but-will-cricket-s-bloodletting-end-20181109-p50eya.html

Quote:

When Ben Amarfio got to the bottom of the stairs leading into the Cricket Australia carpark in Jolimont on Thursday morning, he and Sean Carroll, the sport's head of security, and a good friend, gave each other a hug and wished each other the best.

Amarfio ... had just been jettisoned by CA's new chief executive Kevin Roberts and, in front of stunned staff, had to leave the sport's headquarters immediately. It's standard business practice for a terminated employee, particularly a senior one, to be escorted from the building, for a company must protect its intellectual property. This happened to CA's former head of integrity Iain Roy earlier this year.

There had been scuttlebutt Amarfio, a proud man whose father was a professional boxer, had been tempted to let his emotions explode, but that wasn't the case. It's understood Amarfio, having left his security tag in his office, had asked Carroll to buzz him into the carpark.

Regardless, the hug Amarfio, one of the more polarising figures in the game, and Carroll shared is perhaps an example of what the sport needs right now - a bit of love amid the ongoing fall-out...
...




[Comment: What "intellectual property" in need of protection could CA possibly have? More like "skeletons in the closet", perhaps. Oh, maybe it's the secret herbs and spices in the recipes for the hot breakfasts Amarfio's secretary had to cook him.]
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:40 am
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Ian Healy:

[on Warner & Smith bans] “I think they could justify starting them in Sheffield Shield cricket from January 1.”

[on ACA] “They’re behaving like a union, which we don’t want that.”

[on Howard] "A rugby player, on top of our great experts. That's the chairman of selectors, the Australian cricket coach and the Australian cricket captain, all answered to Pat Howard. How's that going to ever be a good look? As it's turned out, it hasn't been."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/healy-supportive-of-early-returns-for-warner-and-smith-20181111-p50fdu.html


[Comment: In the video clip in the article, Healy sounds like he wants Dyer to resign. On his "behaving like a union" statement, isn't that basically what the ACA is?]
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 7:38 pm
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The Tonk: Breakfast club ends for axed CA executive

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/the-tonk-breakfast-club-ends-for-axed-ca-executive-20181112-p50ffr.html

Quote:
...
There are former CA employees who insist that was the case, while others insist Amarfio was on the pre-made Lite N' Easy meal program at the time, where he had his breakfast heated for a brief period when he begun work early.
...

However, it's understood Belinda did not have an issue with helping prepare his tucker – and was happy to say so – for Amarfio reciprocated by buying lunch for her for years, even bringing in home-cooked food.
...

It's understood Amarfio, whose dream job had been to work at CA, cannot comment as part of his deed of release but the former NBA Australia, Austereo and AFL executive has wide sporting contacts and it would be no surprise to see him rejoin the media or sporting industry.
...

Mike "Mr Cricket" Hussey, the former Australian batsman, is another name who has been linked to the CA board seat vacated by Mark Taylor. It's understood Hussey, who has completed directors' training, is due to discuss over lunch with WACA chief Christina Matthews what a board role would entail at the sport's highest level.
...
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 9:02 pm
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Howard's end should mark major Cricket Australia shift

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25262448/howard-end-mark-major-cricket-australia-shift

Quote:

Pat Howard makes a final exit from his office at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on Wednesday. ...

Part of the reason Howard gained a week more than his fellow executive Ben Amarfio was to undertake a brief handover period with his interim replacement, the game development executive Belinda Clark, who is widely understood to prefer only to keep the seat warm until a longer-term replacement is hired. Numerous names have already been touted, among the most credible including the Western Australia high performance manager Ben Oliver and the former Sydney Sixers general manager and now NSWRL executive Stuart Clark.

In assessing who should replace Howard and how they should do so, it must be noted that those who created his role description never intended Howard's brief to be as broad as it became.
...

... [T]he shuffling of Allardice and cricket operations into a role subservient to Howard as the executive team performance "strategist" raised plenty of internal eyebrows. It was only a matter of months before Allardice departed CA to take on the role of general manager of cricket at the ICC, a position he still holds.

The message of this restructure, placing Howard's search for a winning national team above CA's most fundamental role as the organisers and administrators of the game down under, was a powerful one. It meant that each of Allardice's successors, Sean Cary and Peter Roach, were left largely to carry out the instructions of Howard, with most considerations divided into either "team performance pathway" or "fan-facing" categories. In the case of the state competitions, this meant that 50-over and first-class tournaments that had long since ceased to be profitable of themselves became increasingly subject to micromanagement.
...

Howard's industry, passion and energy can never be questioned. Nor his willingness to debate his ideas fully and frankly. But the combination of his rugby background, his forceful personality and the enormous power ultimately invested in his role made it increasingly difficult for others to push back at him - a feeling especially prominent and recurring among the state associations who resented the notion that their teams and players were becoming little more than a farm system for the national team. Australia's international sides will always be a representative collective rather than a club team.
...

Clark, perhaps in advance of taking on the team performance role himself, put it this way. "That's why we need Shield cricket to be strong," he told Sky Sports Radio. "We spend 90% of our time worrying about the Australian team. We should spend 10% on the Australian team, 90% on Shield cricket. If they're getting runs and wickets, then we've got plenty of players to choose from for the Australian team."
...



States want to wrest more control over player management from CA

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/states-want-to-wrest-more-control-over-player-management-from-ca-20181114-p50fz8.html

Quote:
...
Fairfax Media understands several states have told interim high-performance boss Belinda Clark they are strongly in favour of decentralising the program.

There is disquiet among some states at head office telling them how to look after their players, and what they feel is a lack of collaboration between them and the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane. There is also dissatisfaction that CA does not trust states to make calls over issues such as injury management and when players return to the field.

There is also a view that a centralised system is stifling innovation by not encouraging diversity in ideas, which the states believe drives improvement.

It's understood there are already states that are cherrypicking parts of CA's high-performance program to implement into their own such is the scepticism they hold for the governing body.
...

The AFL earlier this year moved away from a national academy towards state-based hubs which they claim will give more potential AFL players an early taste of elite system.



The Fairfax article refers to the earlier article of Shane Watson (who is a member of the ACA Executive):

Simple fixes will put players back on path to the top

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/simple-fixes-will-put-players-back-on-path-to-the-top-20181025-p50bw5.html

Quote:
...
The ACA’s submission explains very clearly that for generations the domestic cricket system in Australia was the envy of world cricket. Sheffield Shield and 50-over cricket would produce player after player capable of representing their country based on repeated standout performances over multiple seasons, against very strong competition on the best grounds in the country.

The challenge is to better integrate modern high-Performance thinking with the traditional and successful competitive environments of state and Premier Cricket.

To this end, the ACA argues for the centralised high-performance model to be decentralised into well funded state-based programs. It notes that Australian cricket’s strength has been traditionally based on the varying approaches by all the states across the country. The one-size-fits-all centralisation is so obviously counter-productive.
...

The core point of all of this and the reason it’s so important is that through genuine competition and state-based success more ‘Australian-ready players’ will emerge.
...

The two-fold effect will be having the senior players imparting their knowledge, skills, values and behaviours whilst also creating a stronger domestic competition.

Furthermore, if we keep the carrot dangling there for older players who dream of playing even just one game for their state then we will not lose the next generation of senior cricketers in Premier Cricket as we have over the last five to 10 years.

And if we can adjust the schedule so nationally contracted players can play more with their state team, and state players more with their Premier Cricket team then this rising tide of talent and skill will lift all players and clubs.
...

The reason why this all seems so simple is because it is.
...



[Does the last quoted sentence suggest Watson thinks CA consists of idiots?]
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:15 pm
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Final call: CA board prepares to deliberate on ball-tampering trio

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/final-call-ca-board-prepares-to-deliberate-on-ball-tampering-trio-20181117-p50gn0.html

Quote:
...
CA directors have been privately deliberating over how best to revisit the bans ..., for they do not want this to impact on what is hoped to be a more productive relationship with the Australian Cricketers Association.

It's understood the CA directors have several issues to discuss...

This shapes as a more complex issue than just endorsing or torpedoing the submission put to CA by ACA bosses Al Nicholson and Greg Dyer.

Fairfax Media understands an immediate lift could be seen as unfair on Bancroft, who has served more time proportionately than Warner and Smith.

If Smith and Warner were able to return and play for NSW, one state source suggested rival states could be unhappy that the Blues now had the best two batsmen in the country and it could impact on the competitive balance of the Sheffield Shield. ...

There are also remuneration issues, for Smith and Warner were not awarded state-based contracts because of their suspensions.

The CA directors will also need to weigh up the public mood for a reduction in penalties, for no one wants the players to be jeered at grounds should they be seen to not have served their time. ...

It's understood the ACA will not have the opportunity to make its case for the players in person before the CA board convenes.
...



Tensions rise over hearing into ball-tampering bans

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/tensions-rise-over-hearing-into-ball-tampering-bans-20181118-p50grn.html

Quote:
...
[T]he CA board will convene via a phone hook-up early this week to debate whether the bans ... should be cut.
...

It's understood the players' association still hopes to speak at least by phone to CA before the board meets but that appears unlikely. It's believed CA will only call the ACA if it feels it needs clarity or more information on its submission. CA will otherwise inform the ACA, most likely by phone, of its verdict before it is made public.
...



[Comment: I've said it before; I'll say it again. The "public mood" should have no bearing on the penalty. This is not some sort of game show or popularity contest. How disgraceful this whole episode is.]


Update:

Fairfax reports: "The seven-member CA board, led by interim chairman Earl Eddings but missing the recently departed David Peever and Mark Taylor, convened a hook-up on Monday and had several issues to discuss relating to the suspensions.
It's understood a final call has not been made and it could take another day or more to determine and then publically release an outcome of an issue that has split opinions at the highest level and among the cricketing public. It's believed there is no requirement for a final decision to go to a vote."
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