Cricket Australia is poised to appoint a woman as a director for the first time in more than a century as the revolutionising of its boardroom structure continues to take shape.
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Jacquie Hey, a former chief executive of telecommunications company Ericsson in Australia and New Zealand, is set to sit on CA's new nine-member board as one of three independent directors.
She was one of three directors-to-be recommended unanimously during the final meeting of the outgoing board at a meeting today - the others were mining executive David Peever and former NSW cricketer and adidas boss Kevin Roberts - and is expected to be confirmed as the organisation's first female board member in 107 years at the CA annual general meeting on October 25.
They will join chairman Wally Edwards, John Bannon, Tony Harrison, Earl Eddings, Dr Harry Harinath and Michael Kasprowicz on the streamlined board, which under recent reforms brought about by the Crawford-Carter report replaces the former state-based 14-member body controlling the game.
The notable omission was former Test captain Mark Taylor, who resigned his position on the Cricket NSW board recently in what seemed a prelude to be named one of the three CA independent directors, but was overlooked.
Hey worked for more than two decades with Ericsson in finance, marketing, sales and leadership positions in Australia, Sweden, the UK and the Middle East, and now holds board roles with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and SBS. She is also Honorary Consul of Sweden for Victoria.
Peever is the head of mining giant Rio Tinto's Australian operations that includes the company's most important asset, the massive and rich Pilbara iron ore mines. He has been a vocal figure this year in criticising the federal government's carbon tax and the effect miners claim it will have on their competitiveness.
Roberts, meanwhile, was given the nod for both his cricket and business acumen. He played 23 first-class games for NSW between 1994 and 1998 as a middle order batsman, top scoring with 119 and averaging 27.89. An ex-global senior vice-president of adidas he last year led a restructured version of the Colorado Group - which overseas clothing brands Diana Ferrari, JAG, Mathers and Williams - out of receivership as chief executive of the re-titled Fusion Retail Brands.
“They all bring a close interest in and knowledge of cricket combined with significant experience and success at very senior corporate levels dealing with a wide range of diverse contemporary business challenges relevant to cricket, plus understanding and experience working with different cultures which is important to us as we strive to ensure cricket is a sport for all Australians of all backgrounds," Edwards said.
"Most importantly, they offer us independent, expert insight from outside the day-to-day cricket world - we were focused on finding three high-calibre candidates completely independent of cricket".
