CA chief preached ’ win is all’ — Dyer
FORMER Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has been accused of telling national players their only objective was to win, not play cricket, during a locker room exchange.
Australian Cricketers’ Association president Greg Dyer made the claim yesterday as he confirmed he had become uncomfortable with the on- field aggression shown by players.
Dyer, a former Test wicketkeeper, said the incident was a prime example of the pressure placed on players to win at all costs, a culture laid bare in the damning Longstaff report.
“Longstaff talks at length about those additional pressures. I’ll reference one particular example — when a chief executive walks into a changeroom and says ‘ players, you’re not here to play cricket, you’re here to win’,” Dyer said.
The report found CA tolerated “poor behaviour” in the pursuit of winning, and that players were not held to account. Dyer said he saw that manifest itself in escalating onfield aggression.
“Personally … I witnessed those behaviours over a period of time and it was very clear on- field aggression was moving down a path that I wasn’t comfortable with,” he said.
“As an individual, and in discussion with other past players, that movement towards more and more aggressive behaviour on the field was palpable, obvious and could have been called earlier.”
Dyer conceded the report didn’t provide a flattering picture of the players he represents. But it also detailed a corporate culture which was “as bad as I have seen in my 30 years in the corporate world”.