Cricket Australia chairman David Peever yesterday resigned after coming under pressure over a ball-tampering scandal that has triggered an exodus of senior figures and long bans for three players.
The former Rio Tinto mining executive was only voted in for a new three-year term last week, days before an independent review sparked by the cheating row slammed the governing body.
Calls have been mounting for Peever to go after it emerged that the Cricket Australia-commissioned report was not provided to the nation’s state associations before he was re-elected.
Photo: AFP
He was also widely criticized after an interview with broadcaster ABC this week in which he referred to the ball-tampering affair as a “hiccup.”
“Cricket Australia has today confirmed that Mr David Peever has announced his resignation as chairman of the board of Cricket Australia, effective immediately,” the governing body said in a statement.
His deputy, Earl Eddings, was appointed as interim chairman and said: “We have a way to go to earn back the trust of the cricket community.”
The review by the Sydney-based Ethics Centre blasted Cricket Autralia’s conduct leading up to the tampering incident in March, when players were caught using sandpaper to alter the ball at a Test match in Cape Town.
Then-captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were banned for 12 months, and batsman Cameron Bancroft for nine months for their roles in the incident.
It found that an “arrogant” and “controlling” culture within the governing body contributed to players, who existed in a “gilded bubble,” cheating in the pursuit of victory.
The document also included complaints that there was a bullying culture in elite men’s cricket in the nation.
It made 42 recommendations, including establishing an anti-harassment code to stop sledging and training to improve team leaders’ “moral courage.”
Peever, 61, in the immediate aftermath of the review said he was “not embarrassed at all,” while acknowledging that the board shared responsibility for the events in South Africa.
He said he had no plans to resign, but the Australian newspaper reported that he was told by key stakeholders yesterday that his position had become untenable.
“We look forward to continuing the important process of recovering and rebuilding for Cricket Australia and Australian cricket,” Eddings said.
“We and the executive team are determined to make cricket stronger,” he said.
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Staff writer
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