‘LEADER’ IN WAITING AS HEAT TURNS ON HOCKLEY
CRICKET Australia chief executive Nick Hockley is under mounting pressure amid calls for former NRL boss Todd Greenberg to be considered to run the game.
Greenberg is in charge of the Australian Cricketers Association and has built a strong relationship with the Australian playing group as their representative.
Speaking on SEN Radio before play on Friday, Greenberg slammed Cricket Australia for losing control of the process to review David Warner’s leadership ban, and said the superstar opener was left with “no alternative” but to quit the process.
Greenberg said Warner’s Australian teammates were also fed up with Cricket Australia for allowing a process that could have been sorted in the off-season to drag on through the World Cup and into the Test series.
Former Test great Simon Katich said on SEN that he believed Hockley’s position as CEO would come under a microscope and Greenberg should be in the frame to take over.
“It struck me (from Greenberg’s interview) the leadership and some of the answers he gave around what’s transpired and not just with the David Warner saga but probably in a number of areas over the last 12 months, and even going back to what happened in Cape Town,” said Katich.
“What stood out for me is he is a man who has a huge amount of experience. As a man who has come from the NRL. He’s now a CEO of the
ACA and the way he spoke about this whole leadership to me screams of leadership.
“I think given the way things have unfolded in the last couple of days and the way CA has outsourced a lot of these tough leadership decisions which come with the roles, I think there’s going to be pressure on Nick Hockley moving forward and if this man is not in the mix, then I’ll be very surprised.”
Greenberg said in an interview with SEN’s Gerard Whateley that Warner had no choice but to quit the process, and that CA had monumentally let down the game.
“I don’t think he had any alternative. I think it was probably the only decision he could make, particularly as he is preparing for a Test,” said Greenberg.
“We raised this in February in the hope it could be addressed in the offseason. For David to be forced into a position like this on the eve of a Test, doesn’t serve him well, his family well, it doesn’t serve his team well and I would suggest it doesn’t serve Australian cricket well.
“I see this as a missed opportunity for the game, a missed opportunity for cricket and a missed opportunity for the BBL.
“We are very frustrated, not just for David and his family, but also his teammates who I know are really annoyed about this process, that it has been allowed to drag into the Test summer. … The moment Cricket Australia outsourced the review, in my view they lost control of the process.”