Batting coach Graeme Hick and physiotherapist Kevin Sims were among the 40 staff members who lost their job as cricket Australia tightened their purse strings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has adversely impacted their revenues, The Australian reported.
On Tuesday, Chief Executive Kevin Roberts was asked to resign and was replaced by Nick Hockley.
Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings had on Tuesday issued a statement outlining the organisations vision saying, “With increasing clarity about the impact of Covid-19, we have managed the financial impact on our organisation, our people, our partners and players. There will still be painful decisions for some parts of our organisation, but we have worked hard to carefully develop plans to protect our investment in community cricket and high-performance cricket, while ensuring the game’s financial sustainability.
“We recognise that this is a difficult time for Cricket Australia employees, particularly for those staff members affected by these redundancies and their families. However, our responsibility is clear: to navigate a path for cricket through this period of uncertainty and disruption to ensure we come out the other side sustainable in the short term and prosperous in the long term.”
Eddings refused to give details on those being laid off from the national coaching structure but the paper said Hick and Sims would not continue in their roles. Zimbabwe-born Hick, who played 65 Tests and 120 One-day Internationals for England, was with the Australian team for almost seven years.