Moved to respond, Baird said that “COVID has had a huge impact on the finances of cricket” and also pointed out that “we could have reduced funding to the states”, which CA had not done.
Later, Baird said that CA had to balance its cost base with investment in the game at all levels. Baird has been a CA director since 2020, while former NRL chief Greenberg started as CEO of CA earlier this year.
Indoor cricket graduates: Steve and Mark Waugh during their playing days.Credit: Getty Images
“What’s important here is that the game keeps growing,” he said. “Over the past few years, despite COVID and the significant impact that’s had on the finances, we’ve been determined to keep investing.
“We’re invested in grassroots cricket, which is what it’s all about, and growing the game. We’re looking at opportunities for growth and we have a record year ahead of us, so we’re very confident in the future.”
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Greenberg said that CA needed to welcome open debate and disagreement from its member states, but projected that by this time next year there would be a “significant injection” of money into cricket.
“We have had a difficult period in Australian cricket for a number of years, so I think the comments were welcomed,” he said.
Among the cuts made by CA, including the culling of 15 staff in July, is the decision to stop funding indoor cricket, the popular variant of the game that has been played by the likes of the Waugh brothers and Michael Clarke.
“We would love to fund everyone and everything, but we’ve got to make sure we put our money in the right places at the right times,” Greenberg said. “We will always be looking to help community groups or indoor cricket or every other type of format we can, but we can’t give out what we don’t have.”
Hepburn, Baird, Greenberg and all the other state CEOs and chairs were due to spend the rest of Thursday in meetings discussing the future of the BBL.
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