Roberts vows to restore cricket
INCOMING Cricket Australia ( CA) chief executive Kevin Roberts wants to be a unifying force for the local game at all levels, but concedes he has some bridges to build with the country’s elite players.
Chairman David Peever announced the appointment of Roberts as the successor to James Sutherland at a press conference in Melbourne yesterday after an “extensive” global search.
Currently CA’s chief operating officer, Roberts will take over the role having also been CA’s front man for last year’s bitter pay negotiations that saw Steve Smith, Dave Warner and their teammates fall out of contract and a tour cancelled.
Roberts admitted the standoff with the players, represented by the Australian Cricketers’ Association ( ACA), was challenging but believes no lasting damage was done.
“Our priority is to deepen our relationships right across Australian cricket and I’m committed to deepening our relationships with the players and the ACA,” Roberts said.
“It was a challenging situation but we move forward, we learn and we make commitments as to how we grow the game.
“We obviously can’t change history but what we can do is work very closely with the ACA on a sustained basis over many years to make sure the relationship with the ACA and the players is not defined by negotiations that happen over a few months every five years or so.”
Roberts’ rise to the top job comes with the wide- ranging CA cultural review, commissioned after the ball- tampering incident in Cape Town earlier this year, still ongoing.
ACA president Greg Dyer welcomed the appointment.
With Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft serving 12month bans arising from the incident, he urged the new CEO to carry out changes recommended by the review, regardless of how painful they may be.
“This is a critical time for Australian cricket,” Dyer said.
“The cricket public need to reconnect with the game and this will begin with CA being fair and transparent in order to regain their trust.
“The on and off field events of the past 18 months have created an expectation that things must change.”