David Peever Cricket Australia

To all members of the Cricket Australia Family,

The last six months have been difficult for all of us who love our wonderful game. As chairman of Cricket Australia, I feel your pain, and I would like to apologise sincerely and unreservedly for the distress and dismay you’ve been caused by the mean things people have been saying about me.

I know it must be hard for you to see your leader so unfairly smeared, and from the bottom of my heart I express my regret at my treatment.

At Cricket Australia, we are one hundred percent committed to accountability. It’s that commitment that led us to commission the reviews into the national team’s culture and governance, and it’s that commitment that will lead us to identify and deal with the huge mistakes made by numerous people below me with whom I never had any contact.

Nothing is more important to us than finding those responsible for the position the organisation finds itself in, and I assure you that I will not rest until it is perfectly clear that this does not include me.

A lot has been said and written about the recommendations of the two reviews, and it’s clear that many people have lost confidence in those of us tasked with running Australian cricket. To those people, I would like to direct a personal apology: I am sorry that you are so mistaken about how good we are at our jobs. The incorrect perceptions about the Cricket Australia board, and me in particular, have been a real wake-up call for us all, and we will be ruthless in rooting them out and correcting them.

When I assumed the position of chairman I knew it would not always be easy to make people realise just how competent I am, and I am looking forward to the challenge of doing so.

Obviously, the performance of the Australian men’s cricket team has not been what it could be of late, but we also recognise that cricket is not all about winning and losing. It also involves myriad other crucial elements, such as merchandising, broadcasting rights, and the security of board members’ jobs.

There have definitely been times this year when our players have lost sight of these aspects, and I will be emphasising to the playing group that they need to see the bigger picture in order to avoid a repeat of the events of Cape Town, where Steve Smith, David Warner and Cam Bancroft failed miserably to uphold their duty to their chairman.

Let me be clear: there are serious questions raised by these reviews. Questions like, who the hell do these people think they are? How dare they? Why don’t they shut their damn mouths? And so on. We will be undertaking a thorough process to put measures in place ensuring such questions are never asked again.

In conclusion, Cricket Australia would like to say: we hear you. We know you are concerned about the direction of our beloved sport, and I am confident in saying, on behalf of all at CA, that your concerns are baseless and absurd. Thank you for your continuing support.

Yours,

David Peever