Eddings desires ‘better communication’ as new CA leadership try to undo the knot

The first question Nick Hockley had to answer as the interim CEO of Cricket Australia was about the fate of the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. And as the head of the tournament’s organising committee, it wasn’t surprising then to hear the Englishman talk about “contingency” plans and how his people were still preparing for every eventuality.

But Hockley, who had been lauded earlier in the year for the extremely successful organisation of the women’s T20 World Cup, was on this occasion answering the query on behalf of CA.

Interestingly, his response was followed up almost immediately by CA chairman Earl Eddings, the man responsible for Hockley’s temporary appointment in place of Kevin Roberts, who made sure on insisting that the world event was “unlikely” and “unrealistic”.

“It’s a bit of a moving feast at the moment. I’d say it’s unlikely, while it hasn’t been formally called off this year or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world where most countries are still going through Covid-19 spiking is very, very difficult,” said Eddings.

The chairman was addressing the media on a day CA officially parted ways with Roberts. And while he didn’t give much away on what exactly led to his exit, Eddings took responsibility for all the contentious austerity measures his board had taken in April. But he did admit that the situation could have been handled in a smoother fashion with “better communication” and how that will be one of the key factors that the “new style of leadership” within CA will focus on.

“Sometimes our communication in hindsight could have been clearer and more concise and I take responsibility that we could have done that better. I think where we can improve right across the board is communication at all levels of the organisation, from chairs and boards down to people at the grass roots when they engage with the various states,” he said.

With regards to communication with Roberts over his eventual ouster, Eddings revealed that the two had been in talks about it for nearly 3-4 months and that there was a consensus over this being the right time for the incumbent CEO to move on, despite having only completed a half of his three-year term. He reiterated that Roberts wasn’t a “scapegoat” amidst the chaos that has surrounded CA ever since they announced pay-cuts and lay-offs for staff, revealed the threat of an impending financial crisis and the current standoff between them and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA).

“Being the chair, I’m the one ultimately responsible for the organisation. Hence why we’ve made these changes today and what we are doing tomorrow. We are living in very unprecedented times,” Eddings said.

“Our response has been in line with all other sporting organisations in the past three months. It would be naive to think that Australian cricket wouldn’t be affected like all our other sporting codes and organisations around the world. At the time, we made prudent decisions about the welfare of Australian cricket and yes that means we had to make some hard decisions and we’ve done that. And I don’t move away from that because it’s been necessary to protect us through this crisis. However, if things emerge and change, we adapt our plans but ultimately that’s my responsibility and the board’s responsibility,” he said.

Eddings also insisted that the decision to stand down staff and leave 80 per cent of them on 20 per cent pay was supported by CA and wasn’t taken unilaterally by the CEO. But he did cite an opportunity now with improving scenarios around Australia to “reshape” those measures.

“You see all organisations laying down staff, no one’s happy with that. It was a necessary thing for us to be able to do in the emerging crisis. We are still going through that. We’re not through the crisis yet. if I look back in hindsight, that was 3-4 months ago, when the whole world was turning around. At the time, it was necessary in that current climate to reduce costs quickly. We did that at the time. Now once again, as we’re starting to emerge and different models are coming through and we’ve had the world changing more positively although tentatively,” he explained.

Eddings’ focus now will shift to Wednesday’s meeting when a number of CA staff are feared to be stood down or made redundant. And though he doesn’t expect having to “renegotiate” deals with the two broadcasters, considering “we’ve lost no content”, he does believe that the redundancies were part of CA’s approach to prepare for the summer and their long-term future.

“We are not out of the woods yet. International borders are still closed and will be for some time. We still think there’ll be a significant impact around crowds this summer although it’s good to see some other codes start to experiment with bringing small crowds back in. We’ve got biosecurity measures. There are a lot of things we need to do which are costly and which will have an impact on our revenue. So we still need to appreciate the cost base of Australian cricket,” he said.

“No doubt they’re hurting, and no doubt we’ve got to get them back to work as soon as we possibly can, which we’ve got plans to do. It is challenging, we know that and no doubt of the impact, but I’m sure with Nick’s leadership and the executive team we can turn that around quite quickly,” he said.

There’s also talk of CA perhaps being in a better position now, with the prospect of India’s tour looking brighter by the day, to reassess their revenue projection from two months ago. Back then in April they’d expressed fears over losing 50 per cent of their revenue. But India’s visit will bring them AUD 300 million, and if anything, despite the other “costly” measures, leave them in very good stead. Eddings agreed that a re-evaluation was in place with regards to CA’s financial future.

“Back in late March, early April, 50% was a pretty positive [projection], might’ve been the better outcome, but certainly we’re moving away from that now. We’ve still got a lot of things outstanding and running a national sport we have to be prudent. I can’t as chair sit here and say well let’s hope things change in October, we have to make decisions now based on the facts and the data we have at the time. We have to be conservative, we have to be prudent, which I think we were, and now as things change and hopefully improve, we can reassess our models,” he said.

It’s unlikely how long Hockley will occupy the CEO’s role presently with CA keen on “taking their time” in finding a full-time replacement for Roberts. Eddings revealed that they would look “far and wide”, and both at home and overseas for the best candidate. Hockley, who has been with CA for a while, will be among the front-runners. But for now, he’s not looking that far ahead.

“I’d say it’s still sinking in, it’s very fresh this news over the last 24 hours, so really my focus and priority is the immediate term and it’s really just work towards getting the best possible summer away and think about that [the future] at a later time,” he said.