CA chief urged to quit after ball-tampering review
Melbourne:pressurewasbuilding on Cricket Australia chairman David Peever to resign on Tuesday in the wake of the release of a scathing independent review into the culture of the game.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed were among those calling for him to be replaced after Monday’s release of the review commissioned in the wake of March’s ball-tampering scandal.
Thereportsaidthegoverningbody was perceived as “arrogant” and “controlling” and treated its elite players like commodities, allowing “alphamale” egos to develop a win-at-allcosts approach.
Peever,whowasawardedasecond five-yeartermlastweek,embarkedon a series of media interviews defending the leadership of Cricket Australia on Monday, including one in which he described the ball-tampering incident as a “hiccup”.
Speed said that interview had convinced him that the former mining executive was not the right man to take Cricket Australia forward and that somebody with a background in the game needed to take over.
“It’s not a hiccup, it’s much more than that,” Speed, who was chief executive of the Australian Cricket board from 1997 until 2001 before serving a similar role at the global governing body, told ABC radio.
“My response when I saw that interview and I saw that comment, I thought Australian Cricket can do better in choosing its chairman and thegamedeservesbettergovernance.”
‘LET THEM PLAY’
The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) said in light of the scathing assessment, CA must share responsibility for the scandal, calling the bans on Steve Smith, David Warnerandcameronbancrofttobelifted.
“With this new information, common sense, common decency, basic fairness, proportionality and natural justice demand that the punishment isreduced,”acapresidentgregdyer told reporters in Melbourne.
“Theplayershavealreadylosttime in the game, chances to play for Australia,enduredpublichumiliationand faced massive financial penalties.”
“Given there is now independent verification that CA’S system and culture were contributory factors, the ACA calls for the lifting of the board-imposed penalties.