Thaindian News

Melbourne, Oct 27 (IANS) Cricket Australia’s (CA) chairman Jack Clarke said Thursday that he was retiring confident of Australian cricket’s future after key strategic decisions made in the last year.

Clarke will be chairing his last CA Board meeting Friday before handing over charge to former Test cricketer Wally Edwards.

Speaking at CA’s annual general meeting, Clarke said he expected a governance review by David Crawford and Colin Carter would report to the Board by the end of the year.

“The CA Board, and the State Cricket Associations which appoint CA’s Board, will consider their recommendations towards the end of this year,” he said.

Clarke also said that Australian cricket had just finalised a new, formal, four-year strategy for cricket to be the country’s favourite sport.

“Pivotal to this vision is the need for cricket to engage with all Australians. While Australian cricket is often judged by its Ashes performances and Test cricket more generally, the reality is that CA has numerous other strategic aims that we use to measure success,” he said.

“Winning the Ashes is naturally a priority but it is not the sole focus. Growing participation levels to ensure cricket’s future and ensuring cricket remains accessible and attractive for all Australians is equally as important as our Test results.

“It is critical that cricket generates sufficient revenue to appropriately fund the game at all levels,” he said.

Clarke has been the CA Chairman for three years. A CA Board member since 1996 and deputy chairman since mid-2010, Edwards is a successful Western Australia businessman who played three Ashes Tests for Australia in 1974 and represented Western Australia as a left-hand opener from 1973 to 1978.