Sydney: Former England captain Andrew Strauss has emerged as a surprise candidate to become the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Cricket Australia following the resignation of Kevin Roberts.
On Tuesday, CA appointed Nick Hockley as its interim Chief Executive following the resignation of Roberts. Hockley is currently the Chief Executive of the ICC T20 World Cup and also oversaw the conduct of the women's edition of the tournament earlier this year.
Roberts had been facing severe criticism for his handling of the shutdown since a decision to furlough about 80 per cent of staff at head office in April amid the COVID-19 crisis.
However, according to a report in a leading news daily, an influential figure in Cricket Australia has asked 43-year-old Strauss, who had served as England Cricket director between 2015 to 2018, to apply for the post.
Strauss during his tenure as ECB director played a role in changing the culture in England cricket and helped the team to claim their maiden World Cup title last year.
After serving three years as ECB director of cricket, he had stepped down in 2018 to be with his wife Ruth McDonald, who died from a rare form of lung cancer later that year.
Strauss’ candidature is likely to lead to mixed emotions in the public, considering he played a leading role for England during their Ashes campaign in 2005, 2009 and 2010-11.
Chairman Earl Eddings had already said that Cricket Australia would conduct an international search for a new chief executive to lead the organisation as cricket prepares to spring back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strauss, who has scored 7037 runs in 100 Tests and 4205 runs in 127 ODIs during his playing career, was knighted for his service to English cricket. Before turning up for England, Strauss had played for Sydney University in 1998-99.
