ACA President Greg Dyer told cricketers they must embrace change. GETTY IMAGES
Australian Cricketers' Association President Greg Dyer told players that the sport is at a "turning point" and change must be embraced after a week of turmoil, according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. In an email to past and present players, Dyer said that the recommendations of the Longstaff report, to which the ACA provided a submission, were a "massive opportunity for everyone in cricket." Dyer said, "The events of this week are hugely significant and certainly worth reflecting on. Cricket in Australia is now at a real turning point." The ACA said that its full submission was "unable to be publicly released because its findings had also been damning" (THE AGE, 11/4). Pierik also reported former Australian test captain Mark Taylor took aim at Dyer and ACA CEO Alistair Nicholson. Taylor admitted Cricket Australia and the ACA were again "at odds" and added that the public debate over the suspensions of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft "would not help the players." He said, "Yes, I am critical and I have tried not to be. ... The problem is, once again, in the words of Longstaff, a 'win without counting the costs.' The cost will be the three players in the middle and their culture and their mental health over the next month, two months, however long it takes, or maybe two weeks, to get this sorted out" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/4).
'EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED': In Sydney, Peter Lalor reported CA's "ugly boardroom brawl" continued on Saturday with a respected former director responding to attacks on his credibility by cricket administrators, saying that they were "proof" of findings that the organization had "deep cultural problems." Bob Every, 73, the former Wesfarmers chair who quit the board to protest former CA Chair David Peever's leadership in April, "put his hand to return" in the wake of Peever's resignation last week. Every was "subject to a withering attack" from two close friends of Peever, former board member Tony Harrison and Queensland Cricket Chair Sal Vasta. One former director "slammed him for the crime of not appearing before the media" after play on the day the Australians were caught cheating in Cape Town. Every said, "I was extremely disappointed. ... This is symptomatic of the cultural problem in cricket right now. I don't want to engage in these sort of exchanges." Harrison said, "Had I been in South Africa, I would have fronted the media conference instead of the players" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 11/5).
