Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company, limited by guarantee.[5]
Cricket Australia operates all of the Australian national representative cricket sides, including the Men's, Women's and Youth, Australia A sides, along with various other national teams (such as Indigenous, disability or over-age teams) in conjunction with the relevant organisations. CA is also responsible for organising and hosting Test matches, one day internationals and T20 internationals in association with other nations, and scheduling home international fixtures.
Background
Cricket Australia is an administrative organisation responsible for cricket in Australia. Cricket Australia has six member organisations that represent each of the Australian states. These organisations are:
Cricket Australia is governed by nine independent directors.[6] The chief executive officer reports to the board of directors.
Each state cricket association that are members of Cricket Australia also selects a representative side to participate in Australia's various major domestic cricket tournaments every season.
Cricket Australia also maintains a healthy but independent association with the Australian Cricketers' Association to provide proper player's rights, welfare requirements and pay agreements.
History
The first centralised authority for the administration of cricket in Australia was established in 1892 when representatives from the state associations of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria came together to establish the Australasian Cricket Council. However the Australasian Cricket Council was disbanded in 1898, and what is now known as Cricket Australia was established in 1905 as the "Australian Board of Control for International Cricket".[7] Before its establishment, tours by Australian teams to England were organised and funded by private groups or by the players themselves. Similarly, invitations to English teams were made by private promoters or by individual clubs, such as the Melbourne Cricket Club.[citation needed] The Australasian Cricket Council's one lasting action was to establish the Sheffield Shield, the first-class cricket competition between the Australian colonies.[8]
These early tours were lucrative for the players and promoters and cricket administrators looked to find ways to channel some of this money to the destitute clubs, through the state associations. Formal discussions began in January 1905 in Sydney for the formation of a body to take control of tours from the players. A draft constitution was discussed by members of the New South Wales, Victoria, South Australian and Queensland associations.[9] The first meeting of the new board was held at Wesley College in Melbourne on 6 May 1905.
Queensland did decide to formally join the association with one delegate member the following year, and the constitution was amended in 1906, so that New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria would each have three permanent representatives, and Queensland one representative. In 1907 Tasmania was permitted to send a single representative, and Western Australia did likewise in 1913. Changes to this structure were made in 1914 and 1974 respectively when Queensland and Western Australia formally increased their representation to two each.[citation needed]
In 2001, Cricket Australia established the National Indigenous Cricket Advisory Committee (NICAC), which in 2002 established a strategic plan, "Two Cultures: Australia's New Cricket Tradition".[10]Ngadjuri man Vince Copley was the inaugural co-chair of the committee.[11]
Name changes
Cricket Australia has operated under three different names since its foundation. They are:[citation needed]
Australian Board of Control for International Cricket (ABC) (1905–1973)
Australian Cricket Board (ACB) (1973–2003)
Cricket Australia (CA) (2003–present)
Finances
The organisation's revenue was A$380.9 million in the financial year ended 30 June 2015, with a net surplus of $99 million largely attributed to the success of co-hosting the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.[citation needed]
Cricket Australia also runs (among others) the Under 19 and Under 17 Male Championships, the Under 18 and Under 15 Female National Championships, the National Indigenous Cricket Championships and the National Cricket Inclusion Championships.
Honours
Cricket Australia also provides awards for various categories of players, including:
Male: Test Player of the Year, One-Day Player of the Year, Bradman Young Player of the Year, Domestic Player of the Year, and the Allan Border Medal for the overall best Australian men's cricketer of the year.
Female: the Belinda Clark Award for the best Australian women's cricketer of the year, the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year, and the Domestic Player of the Year
Cricket Australia also honours players for exceptional service to the game of cricket in Australia by annually adding former players of great distinction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
The National Selection Panel is the part of Cricket Australia responsible for team selections for each of the Australian national sides in every form of cricket.
