Nick Hockley Took The Hot Seat Last Week After Kevin Roberts Quit as Cricket Australia’s CEO:
Interim Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley says that after accepting the top job at the troubled organization he intends to repair broken relationships and ensure everyone is “pointing in the right direction” again. The Englishman assumed the charge last week after Kevin Roberts resigned from the coronavirus crisis barely halfway through his tenure over simmering rage. Roberts laid off most of the staff at Cricket Australia and sought to cut budgets to state bodies and players, claiming that the virus would hit revenues hard.
But there was considerable pushback when it became apparent that much of Australia’s home season was likely to go ahead, including a lucrative test series against India.
Hockley’s hands are full trying to please players and staff. “I feel like every single person I want to sit down with,” he said. Hockley’s hands are full trying to please players and staff. “I feel like every single person I want to sit down with,” he said.
“In the first place, I’m just very keen to find out how everybody thinks, and I’m beginning to appreciate that,” he said in a Q&A with a leading sports website.
“Everyone wants a solution and every bit of clarity we can get really helps. The challenge is that time is the essence of sorting out all of that. And we owe it to the game to sort out.”
One day after Roberts quit, Cricket Australia axed 40 jobs, or some 15 percent of staff, to save 40 million ( US$ 27.6 million) of Aus$. The governing body said it was concerned about more financial surprises this year, with hopes of reduced crowds and increased expenditure on protective measures to hold COVID-19 at bay.
The scheduled matches for Sheffield Shield and Twenty20 Big Bash League will proceed, but Australia A tours and games for Cricket Australia XI have been put on hold. There is also controversy about whether Australia will host the T20 World Cup next year in the wake of the global pandemic.
In the midst of the global pandemic, there is also uncertainty as to whether Australia can host this year’s T20 World Cup. Hockley, who was the chief of the T20 World Cup, said it was important to “go in the same direction for everybody.”
“And I’m pretty straightforward about the goals that will bring the teams back to work, reach out to all our stakeholders and get together, and concentrate on delivering this summer. “An international search for a permanent appointment is ongoing, with a number of applicants from former England captain Andrew Strauss to former Australian football chief David Gallop in the local papers.
Hockley, who worked on the organizing committee for the 2015 Cricket World Cup and before that with the London Olympics team in 2012, was cautious when asked whether he wanted the job full time.
“Over my entire career, my philosophy has been to concentrate on doing the best job I can for what I’ve been entrusted with, and the future will look after itself. So I will continue to do the same,” he said.
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