Ex-England captain Strauss emerges as surprise candidate for Cricket Australia CEO: Report

Former England skipper Andrew Strauss has emerged as a surprise candidate to become CEO of crisis-ridden Cricket Australia following resignation of Kevin Roberts. Cricket Australia has been in a financial mess since outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.  To deal with it, Roberts stood down 80 percent of staff in April, reduced grants to states, and was negotiating for a new pay deal with players. Some of Roberts' decisions were widely criticized and eventually led his ouster.

Strauss emerges as surprise candidate 

According to a report in ' Australian', an influential figure in Cricket Australia has asked 43-year-old Strauss to apply for post. Strauss had served England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as a director of cricket between 2015 to 2018. After Roberts left, England-born Nick Hockley was roped in as an interim replacement with governing body searching to find right candidate to serve as a full-time CEO.

"One of most important roles of board is to appoint a CEO. We'll take our time and do an extensive search here and overseas," chairman Earl Eddings had told reporters this week.

In furr efforts to cut costs, Cricket Australia on Wednesday said it will cut bonuses of its senior manment, remove 40 more staffers, and "pause" international tours for country's A teams.  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. Strauss' candidature is likely to lead to mixed emotions in public, considering he played a leading role for England during ir Ashes campaign in 2005, 2009 and 2010-11.

South Africa-born former opener also played a role in changing culture in England cricket as ECB director, which lead team to claim ir 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.

Im credits: AP