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Kevin Roberts, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has faced staff questions about decisions to withdraw all but a handful of employees from 80% pay cuts through July for savings of just A $ 3 million on an organization that has so far faced minimal disruption to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an effort to defend recent CA decisions and the ways they have communicated amid waves of staff dismay, state associations, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA), and the game’s corporate and streaming partners, Roberts spoke to staff and the media in rapid succession on Tuesday afternoon. He faced similar questions from each group, and in addition to defending staff members, Roberts also believes he has admitted to staff that layoffs were a possibility after June 30.
At the same time, it is understood that there have been major discussions surrounding Australian cricket on whether to convene CEOs, state association presidents, and the ACA under the umbrella of the Australian Cricket Council for alternative approaches to current and future problems. Such a move would effectively serve as a vote of mistrust in the way Roberts has handled the past few weeks.
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Insisting that the pay cuts were necessary as part of an estimated $ 20 million savings the governing body had already made, Roberts showed no inclination to review a decision that is understood to have been first drafted in March as part of a series of measures to sustain the business. Roberts also confirmed that CA is paying its retired personnel the equivalent of JobKeeper (A $ 1,500 per fortnight) because it is not eligible for government payment as a result of not having lost any significant income since the pandemic hit the End of the season.
“It was not an overreaction because we are dealing with a situation that unfortunately hits us at the lowest point in our cash cycle for four years,” said Roberts. “We reached a point in early September where there are more shocks like we have had in the last month or more, where our reserves are very low and, in fact, we would chart a path to zero if we did not take drastic action.
“Then you add the possibility that the international season will not go ahead, and that is a problem of hundreds of millions of dollars. Although the moment is a little different in our season in relation to football codes, we ‘Like We have seen in the two main football codes, they have done four things: one is to secure debts, another is to reduce their own costs as leagues, the other is to reduce club funding and the next is to negotiate a reasonable reinstatement of player payments for the season.
“So it is not surprising to see that the blue print is spreading in all sports and that we are also pursuing that. If we weren’t doing that, we would be handling this situation by looking in the rearview mirror and that is not what we are required to do. We are in charge of managing the situation that is presented to us and what we see in the future, so we expect and take those measures as required. “
Roberts also insisted that he still had the support of the California board of directors, states, and his own staff to continue preparing for a wide range of possible scenarios for the game. State associations debated and obtained an endorsement from CA about the depth of the cuts to their annual grants, 45% to 25%, a round trip that suggests strong reservations among CA homeowners about how their administration has handled events in recent weeks.
“We are across Australian cricket recognizing that the cuts may need to get to that level, but that is preventative planning,” Roberts said of the states. “What we need is a plan to withdraw 25% of cricket operating expenses in Australia next financial year with an additional plan to go deeper if necessary and something similar with states and territories. Work on payments continues. of players where you naturally have “a smaller reduction in player payouts if the season continues without crowds and a greater reduction in player payouts if the season, in whole or in part, does not go through.”
Speaking of his staff, Roberts argued that layoffs, while executives and skeleton staff remain at 80% of their regular salaries, should be carried out as part of the range of measures the board has taken in preparation for the possibility of losing income before next summer.
“I desperately feel for our people that they have been rejected during this period and we emphasize that. The pain that our people are suffering and that will be rejected from next week onwards is part of the motivation for us to navigate this situation the best that we can. can. “said Roberts. “We didn’t start with the casualties, what we started was the recognition that most activities in cricket had to stop as a result of the emerging situation, and when you pause those activities you have a lot of people who were previously working on those activities that they already they are not required to work
“I feel desperate for each and every one of them and I hate the fact that we had to move on to that after all the fantastic progress we have made as an organization and our culture, and the outstanding people we are so grateful to work with, I hate doing that. Unfortunately, it was an inevitable piece of the puzzle. “
