Cricket Australia remove batting coach Graeme Hick to manage financial challenge post COVID-19 pandemic

Cricket Australia remove batting coach Graeme Hick: The Australia board has cut down on 40 jobs in a bid to put their best foot forward financially.

After removing CEO Kevin Roberts yesterday, Cricket Australia have announced the removal of Men’s batting coach Graeme Hick amidst a major cut down which sees them doing away with as many as 40 positions.

Hick, 54, had represented Australia from 1991-2001 before taking the role of a batting coach in 2016. In his four-year old stint, Hick is said to have worked extensively with the likes of premier batsman Steve Smith.

The National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and other coaching staff are the ones to have suffered the most from this restructure which is aimed to put their best foot forward financially.

Having saved AUD 40 million via restructuring, Cricket Australia have also confirmed that senior men’s and women’s cricket, Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup and the Big Bash League will not be impacted by any means.

Cricket Australia remove batting coach Graeme Hick

Speaking to the reporters, CA chairman Earl Eddings opened up on how they initially thought of more “drastic cuts” but could manage due to proactive decisions.

“Where we were maybe three months ago we were looking at more drastic cuts. But given the fact we had stood people down allowed us the flexibility to maintain more roles. Certainly in the last couple of weeks we’ve been able to really protect that core part of our business,” Eddings was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Eddings further acknowledged that 40 had to be removed for no fault of their and that the same is a ramification of the ongoing global crisis in the form of COVID-19.

“We’ve been through a number of challenges, but when you lose really good staff like today, it’s really gut-wrenching, and through no fault of their own, there’s a crisis that’s hit everybody. To lose 40 really good people is really soul-destroying. So this has been really tough, and saying goodbye to those people is incredibly difficult,” Eddings said.

Australia, who were hosting New Zealand in March, had to postpone the series after playing a lone ODI behind closed doord at the SCG. Slated to tour Bangladesh in June, even that tour has been postponed.

While Australia look set to host India during the summer, the have expressed doubts regarding conducting the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 in October-November.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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