According to star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry, Cricket Australia is ready for a woman to be its CEO for the first time. She feels that there are several deserving women candidates for the job and this could well be the right time for a woman to lead the Australian Cricket Board.
Earlier Cricket Australia (CA) had appointed T20 World Cup chief executive Nick Hockley in an interim role amid the financial crisis owing to the COVID-19 pandemic after Kevin Roberts resigned from the post earlier this week.
Perry suggested that Australian chief executive Christina Matthews could be a good option for the permanent role.
“I think Cricket Australia has been ready for a female CEO for a long time,” Perry told reporters in a video call,” she said.
“I know Chris was in discussions for the last round of hiring for the role. I don’t think its something that’s new,” she added.
Perry highlighted that there are several women at high and influential positions who are pivotal to the functioning of the cricket board.
“We’ve got a number of women working in high executive roles in Cricket Australia, Belinda Clark and Steph Beltrame to name a couple. They are absolutely pivotal in the way that we operate.
“So, yeah, I think there’s some really strong representation within cricket and leadership in the organisation already,” Perry said.
Earlier in the week, CA was forced to remove 40 more staffers that included batting coach Graeme Hick because of the financial crisis.
The board, however, maintained that the senior domestic tournaments across men’s and women’s cricket would not be reduced.
“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to maintain the structure and make-up of our staff within the Australian team albeit maybe with slightly varied roles and hours,” Perry said.
“In terms of the resourcing we’ve been able to keep our group together which I know from a player and staff perspective we are very grateful for given everything that’s been going on,” she added.