Cricket Australia boss quits after ball-tampering outcry
SYDNEY: Cricket Australia chairman David Peever quit on Thursday after coming under intense pressure over a ball-tampering scandal which has triggered an exodus of senior figures and long bans for three players.
The former Rio Tinto mining executive was only voted in for a new three-year term last week, days before an independent review following the cheating scandal slammed the governing body.
Calls have been mounting for Peever to go after it emerged that the Ca-commissioned report was withheld from the country’s states that re-elected him.
He was also widely criticised after an interview with broadcaster ABC in which he referred to the ball-tampering affair, which caused an outcry among the Australian public, as a “hiccup”.
“Cricket Australia has confirmed that Mr. David Peever has announced his resignation as chairman of the board of Cricket Australia, effective immediately,” the governing body said.
His deputy Earl Eddings was appointed as interim chairman.
The review by the Sydneybased Ethics Centre slammed CA’S conduct leading up to the tampering incident in March, when players were caught using sandpaper to alter the ball at a Test in Cape Town. It found that an “arrogant” and “controlling” culture within the governing body contributed to players cheating in the pursuit of victory.
Peever had until now kept his job despite the exit of CA chief executive James Sutherland, coach Darren Lehmann and team performance boss Pat Howard.
The then captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were banned for 12 months, and batsman Cameron Bancroft for nine months for their roles in the incident.
‘GLOBAL PROBLEM’
Australia coach Justin Langer claims there is a worldwide problem with ball-tampering, partly due to unresponsive pitches, while vowing it will never happen under his watch.
He said he was shocked when he learned players had taken sandpaper onto the field to deliberately alter the ball.
But he said it was not an isolated issue.
“I can’t understand for a single second how we took sandpaper out in the field. That doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.
“What I do know though is that the issue with people ball-tampering is going on internationally. That’s a real worry.”