Kevin Roberts, the man who led Cricket Australia's pay war against the players last year, has emerged as favourite to replace chief executive James Sutherland.
As reported by Fairfax Media last month, Roberts, who is Sutherland's deputy, has the support of chairman David Peever. He is seen as the frontrunner but CA board director John Harnden, who is also chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, and John Warn, the former NSW Cricket chairman, remain in the running. Fairfax Media reported last month that WACA chief executive Christina Matthews' hopes of taking the top job had slipped.
Succession plan: Kevin Roberts is the favourite to take over from James Sutherland as Cricket Australia’s chief executive.
An announcement is likely this week.
Roberts, 46, is former first-class batsman with NSW and has a strong pedigree in the sports business world, having been an executive with Adidas and 2XU. He joined the CA board as an independent director in 2012 when the state-based system ended but in 2015 became executive general manager for strategy, people and culture. He was named as head negotiator for CA in pay talks with the Australian Cricketers Association last year but soon fell out with players over what they believed was CA's militant approach and determination to end a percentage pay model the two parties had enjoyed since 1997.
The ACA refused to deal with Roberts, although as one senior CA source said, "he only did what was asked of him". Amid a stand-off, players even fell out of contract and an Australia A tour of South Africa was cancelled.
It was not until Sutherland took on a greater role late in discussions that a deal was brokered, with the percentage model remaining in place.
Peever, who was the architect of the bid to transform relations with the ACA, has said Sutherland's successor would likely have a strong cricketing background.
"This is an incredibly complex job, it has many dimensions. What we must do is find the best person for the role. While I don't want to put any constraints around it, it is a Cricket Australia role, so we're probably going to have a little bit of bias towards an Australian, and it is a role in cricket, so we'll probably have a bias towards someone in cricket," he said in June.
Sutherland's replacement can likely add brokering a new contract with the Melbourne Cricket Club and retaining the Boxing Day Test as one of his priorities.
Fairfax Media can reveal negotiations over a new deal between the sport's governing body, in conjunction with Cricket Victoria, and the MCC, the ground keeper of the MCG, have opened. These negotiations follow the new contract signed by the AFL and the MCC in June, locking in the grand final until 2057.
Cricket's current deal expires this summer, with initial plans to at least secure the Boxing Day Test through until 2023, when the International Cricket Council's latest Future Tours Program expires. One option that could be raised is whether a day-night Test should be trialled in Melbourne although that is predominantly the domain of CA.
The scheduling of one-day internationals, Sheffield Shield and Big Bash League matches is also on the agenda. Coffers took a hit last summer because of the Melbourne Stars' struggles, with average crowds across the five men's BBL matches plummeting from 49,578 in 2016-17 to 31,629.
MCC chief executive Stuart Fox confirmed discussions had opened but would not elaborate on details.
All parties are also keen to ensure the drop-in pitches at the MCG are improved and again provide the required spectacle between bat and ball. In wake of the drawn Ashes Test last summer, the MCG pitch was branded sub-standard by the ICC in a highly embarrassing report. It was the first time an Australian international pitch had been given a poor rating.
A review of the drop-in wickets has been completed, with a refurbishment of the nursery where the pitches are grown understood to be one change. It's understood it could be a three-year process before the pitches are at their best. The MCC will host WWE wrestling this weekend, then the drop-in wickets for the summer will be placed.
MCG Trust executive officer Ben Foskett has said the "Trust takes very seriously the criticism levelled at the quality of the pitch presented for the 2017 Boxing Day Test".
"The reputation of any cricket venue is, at least in part, dependant on expectations of a quality pitch. Different venues each have a reputation for delivering different pitch characteristics and it was clear that the pitch presented for this series did not meet the expectations of an MCG pitch. Whilst acknowledging that pitch preparation is not an exact science, the Trust has and will continue to require the Ground Manager to take all steps necessary to ensure that there is no repetition of this disappointing situation in future," he wrote in the Trust's 2017-18 annual report.
Fox, in his annual MCC CEO report, admitted "the pitch produced for the Test did not contain the bounce, pace or subsequent deterioration that we expected, and was not conducive to a balanced contest between bat and ball".
The MCG pitch folds into the wider issue of international pitches in Australia, with CA hoping for each to have more of a livelier and even unique feel although with three of the four decks for the marquee Test series against India to be played on drop ins, that is easier said than done.
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