Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia , formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company, limited by guarantee.
Cricket Australia operates all of the Australian national representative cricket sides, including the Men's, the Women's and Youth sides. CA is also responsible for organising and hosting Test tours and one day internationals with other nations, and scheduling the home international fixtures.
Background
Cricket Australia is an administrative organisation responsible for cricket in Australia. Cricket Australia has six member organisations that represent each of the Australian states. These organisations are:- New South Wales – Cricket NSW
- Queensland – Queensland Cricket
- South Australia – South Australian Cricket Association
- Tasmania – Tasmanian Cricket Association
- Victoria – Cricket Victoria
- Western Australia – Western Australian Cricket Association
Cricket Australia is governed by eight independent directors, who work collectively in the national interest of Australian cricket. The chief executive officer reports to the board of directors.
Each of the state cricket associations that are members of Cricket Australia also selects a representative side to participate in Australia's major domestic cricket tournaments.
Domestic teams, playing national tournaments
Cricket Australia also maintains a healthy but independent association with the Australian Cricketers' Association to provide proper player's rights and welfare requirements.History
The first centralised authority for the administration of cricket in Australia was established in 1892 when representatives from the state associations of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria came together to establish the Australasian Cricket Council. However the Australasian Cricket Council was disbanded in 1898, and what is now known as Cricket Australia was established in 1905 as the "Australian Board of Control for International Cricket". Before its establishment, tours by Australian teams to England were organised and funded by private groups or by the players themselves. Similarly, invitations to English teams were made by private promoters or by individual clubs, such as the Melbourne Cricket Club. The predecessor organisation, the Australasian Cricket Council, had existed from 1892 to 1898 but was ineffective due to a lack of funding. Its one lasting action was to establish the Sheffield Shield, the first-class cricket competition between the Australian colonies.These early tours were lucrative for the players and promoters and cricket administrators looked to find ways to channel some of this money to the destitute clubs, through the state associations. Formal discussions began in January 1905 in Sydney for the formation of a body to take control of tours from the players. A draft constitution was discussed by members of the New South Wales, Victoria, South Australian and Queensland associations. The first meeting of the new board was held at Wesley College in Melbourne on 6 May 1905.
The foundation members were the New South Wales Cricket Association and the Victorian Cricket Association. South Australia's delegates refused to join the Board because the Board structure denied the players any representation. The Queensland Cricket Association was represented as an observer only.
Queensland did decide to formally join the association with one delegate member the following year, and the constitution was amended in 1906, so that New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria would each have three permanent representatives, and Queensland one representative. In 1907 Tasmania was also permitted to send a single representative, and Western Australia did likewise in 1913. Changes to this structure were made in 1914 and 1974 respectively when Queensland and Western Australia formally increased their representation to two each.
Name changes
Cricket Australia has had three different names since its foundation. They are:- Australian Board of Control for International Cricket
- Australian Cricket Board
- Cricket Australia
Finances
Competitions
As well as responsibility for Australian international sides, Cricket Australia organises domestic inter-state cricket in Australia, including the three premier competitions in each of the major forms of the game. These are the Sheffield Shield in first-class cricket, the JLT One-Day Cup, which is the domestic one-day competition, and the KFC Big Bash League, which is the domestic Twenty20 competition.Cricket Australia's competitions:
- Sheffield Shield
- Marsh One-Day Cup
- Big Bash League
- Futures League
- Women's National Cricket League
- Women's Big Bash League
Honours
Cricket Australia also provides awards for various categories of players, including:- Male: Test Player of the Year, One-Day Player of the Year, Bradman Young Player of the Year, Domestic Player of the Year, and the Allan Border Medal for the overall best Australian men's cricketer of the year.
- Female: the Belinda Clark Award for the best Australian women's cricketer of the year, the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year, and the Domestic Player of the Year
Principals of Cricket Australia
Chairmen
- Richard Teece: 1892–1893
- Richard Best: 1893–1895
- Mostyn Evan: 1895–1896; 1910–1911
- John Gibson: 1896–1897
- Will Whitridge: 1897–1900
- Lawrence Adamson: 1905–1906
- Ernie Bean: 1906–1907; 1912–1913
- George Barbour: 1907–1908
- George Foxton: 1908–1910
- Charles Eady: 1911
- William McElhone: 1911–1912
- James Allen: 1913–1914
- Harry Blinman: 1914–1919
- Harold Bushby: 1919; 1925–1926
- Harry Gregory: 1919–1920; 1922–1923; 1926–1927
- Harry Rush: 1920–1922
- Jack Hutcheon: 1923–1924
- Bernard Scrymgour: 1924–1925
- Aubrey Oxlade: 1927–1930; 1933–1936; 1945–1948; 1951–1952
- Dr Allen Robertson: 1930–1933; 1936–1945; 1948–1951
- Roy Middleton: 1952–1955
- Frank Cush: 1955–1957
- Bill Dowling: 1957–1960
- / Sir Donald Bradman: 1960–1963; 1969–1972
- Ewart Macmillan: 1963–1966
- Bob Parish: 1966–1969; 1975–1978
- Tim Caldwell: 1972–1975
- Phil Ridings: 1980–1983
- Fred Bennett: 1983–1986
- Malcolm Gray: 1986–1989
- Colin Egar: 1989–1992
- Alan Crompton: 1992–1995
- Denis Rogers: 1995–2001
- Robert Merriman: 2001–2005
- Creagh O'Connor: 2005–2008
- Jack Clarke: 2008–2011
- Wally Edwards: 2011–2015
- David Peever: 2015–2018
- Earl Eddings: 2018–present
Secretaries & Chief Executive Officers
- John Portus: 1892–1896
- John Creswell: 1896–1900
- William McElhone: 1905–1910
- Colin Sinclair: 1910–1911
- Sydney Smith: 1911–1927
- William Jeanes: 1927–1954
- Jack Ledward: 1954–1960
- Alan Barnes: 1960–1980
- David Richards: 1980–1993
- Graham Halbish: 1993–1997
- Malcolm Speed: 1997–2001
- James Sutherland: 2001–2018
- Kevin Roberts: 2018–2020
- Nick Hockley: 2020–present
National Selection Panel
The current three-man panel for the Australian men's sides is: Trevor Hohns, Justin Langer and George Bailey.
The current four-person panel for the Australia women's sides is: Shawn Flegler, Matthew Mott, Avril Fahey and Julie Hayes.
Board of directors
Cricket Australia is governed by nine independent directors, who work collectively in the national interest of Australian cricket.The chief executive officer reports to the board of nine directors. The current nine board members are:
- Earl Eddings
- Paul Green
- John Harnden AM
- Dr Lachlan Henderson
- Jacqueline Hey
- Michael Kasprowicz
- Michelle Tredenick
- Richard Freudenstein
- Mel Jones OAM