Published: Sep 18, 2015, 05:42 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 18, 2015, 05:43 PM (IST)
Kevin Roberts, formerly a Board of Director at Cricket Australia (CA), has surfaced as a prospective successor to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James Sutherland by his decision to take up a role in the executive management team. Sutherland’s long-time service in his post has provided for anticipatory predictions on who would replace him in the top job. Roberts is set to take up the role of executive general manager, taking over from Alex Wyatt, who, with his club-cricket background was looked upon as a likely successor to Sutherland. Roberts, a director of CA since 2012, however, has now changed the scenario.
His decision to move into full-time administration role, reportable to the CEO, was welcomed by Sutherland. “Kevin is an experienced business leader,” Sutherland said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, “with an outstanding track record in achieving alignment, managing change and building values-based work forces with a sharp focus on growth and high performance, which aligns with Cricket Australia’s vision to be Australia’s Favourite Sport – A Sport For All Australians.” VIDEO: James Sutherland praises Michael Clarke on his wonderful career
Wyatt had resigned from his post to focus on renewable energy and emerging technology, the domains he is apparently more comfortable in. Wyatt, in his time in CA, also generated headlines for his volatile behaviour in club cricket. On one occasion, he was offered a five-match ban for ‘abusing an umpire and confronting an opposing bowler’.
His replacement, Roberts, has valuable corporate experience, with his associations with brands like Adidas and Colorado. Besides being one of three board of directors at CA, he also devoted time as chief executive of 2XU, an Australian brand that deals with sports apparel. READ: Darren Lehmann not in danger of being sacked, says James Sutherland
“In addition to his most recent role at 2XU, Kevin spent a number of years with the Adidas Group in Germany, rising to the role of Global Senior Vice President. Either side of his tenure at Adidas, Kevin led business transformations at Colorado Group/Fusion Retail Brands and Canterbury International,” Sutherland said.
“Kevin brings with him a strong cricket pedigree and deep relationships within the game at club, state and national level. Kevin played youth cricket for Australia and first-class cricket for NSW, in addition to managing a former commercial partner of CA and being a CA Director over the last three years.
“I am very excited about Kevin’s appointment – it is an extremely important role for Australian cricket and I firmly believe that Kevin’s experience, capability and passion will complement and further support cricket’s leadership, particularly across CA’s Executive Team, Leadership Team and our State and Territory CEOs.”
In the past, team performance manager Pat Howard and head of communications Ben Amarfio were two candidates thought of as the next CEO, besides Wyatt, but Roberts’ inclination towards CA administration, his impressive resume, and his First-Class background makes him the top candidate in the pecking order.
