Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company,

limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share capi ...

. Cricket Australia operates all of the Australian national representative cricket sides, including the Men's,

Women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

and

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

, Australia A sides, along with various other national teams (such as Indigenous, disability or over-age teams) in conjunction with the relevant organisations. CA is also responsible for organising and hosting

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

one day international One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s and T20 internationals in association with other nations, and scheduling home international fixtures.

Background

Cricket Australia is an administrative organisation responsible for

in Australia. Cricket Australia has six member organisations that represent each of the Australian states. These organisations are: *

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

–

Cricket NSW Cricket NSW (officially known as the ''New South Wales Cricket Association'') is an Australian sporting association that administers cricket in New South Wales. It is based at the Sydney Olympic Park. The New South Wales Blues, the New South W ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

–

Queensland Cricket Queensland Cricket, formerly known as the Queensland Cricket Association, is the governing body of Cricket in Queensland, Australia. Formed in 1876, it is directly responsible for the Queensland Bulls, Queensland Fire, Allan Border Field and Qu ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

–

South Australian Cricket Association The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the South Australian men's and women's teams based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

–

Cricket Tasmania Cricket Tasmania (formerly the ''Tasmanian Cricket Association'') is the administrative body for cricket in Tasmania, Australia, and is based at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Cricket Tasmania's primary purpose is to promote and develop the game of ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

–

Cricket Victoria Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to include funding, programs, office accommodation and staff assistance. ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

– Western Australian Cricket

Cricket ACT Cricket ACT is the governing body of cricket in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In 1922, the Federal Territory Cricket Association (FTCA) was established to govern the sport of cricket in the then Federal Capital Territory, which had bee ...

and

Northern Territory Cricket Northern Territory Cricket, formally the Northern Territory Cricket Association, is the governing body for cricket in the Northern Territory of Australia. Cricket in the Northern Territory has produced state contracted players which include Kane ...

are non-member associations, although the ACT participates in Cricket Australia tournaments such as the

Women's National Cricket League The Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) is the national domestic 50-over competition for women's cricket in Australia. Featuring seven teams—one from every state, plus the Australian Capital Territory—each season's winner is awarded th ...

and the

Futures League The Second XI (currently known as the Toyota Second XI under naming rights) is a men's cricket league competed for primarily by Australian state and territory first-class cricket reserve teams. The competition is administered by Cricket Australi ...

, and previously briefly also competed in the domestic limited-overs competition. Cricket Australia is governed by nine independent directors. The chief executive officer reports to the board of directors. Each state cricket association that are members of Cricket Australia also selects a representative side to participate in Australia's various major domestic cricket tournaments every season.

National teams

Men's Test team:

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

played in the first-ever Test match against England in 1877 and has since become one of the most successful teams in Test cricket history. Australia has been a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since its inception in 1909. As of April 2025, the Men's Test team is captained by

Pat Cummins Patrick James Cummins (born 8 May 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who captains the Australia men's national cricket team in Test and One Day International cricket. Cummins is widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers t ...

. Men's white-ball team: Australia played their first One-Day International in 1971 and has since won multiple ICC tournaments, including five World Cups. As of April 2025,

leads the ODI side, while

Mitchell Marsh Mitchell Ross Marsh (born 20 October 1991) is an Australian international cricketer who represents Australia in all three formats. Marsh is the current Australian T20I captain, and has served as vice captain in all formats. Marsh currently plays ...

captains the T20I team. Women's team:

played their first Women's Test match against England in 1934. They have won multiple Women's World Cups and T20 World Cups. As of April 2025, the team is captained by

Alyssa Healy Alyssa Jean Healy (born 24 March 1990) is an Australian cricketer who plays for and captains the Australian women's national team. She also plays for New South Wales in domestic cricket, as well as the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL and captains ...

. Under-19s team: Men's U-19 and Women's U-19 teams regularly compete in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cups. The most recent captains (2024) are

Hugh Weibgen Hugh Desmond Weibgen (born 28 October 2004) is an Australian cricketer who plays for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League. He is a right handed batsman and right-arm off break bowler. Early life and education He attended Brisbane Grammar Scho ...

for the men's team and

Meg Lanning Meghann Moira Lanning (born 25 March 1992) is an Australian cricketer who formerly captained the national women's team. Lanning has been a member of seven successful world championship campaigns, winning two Women's Cricket World Cup and five ...

has joined as a mentor for the women's team. Reserves (A team): The Australia A is the second-tier men's team, focusing on developing players and providing them with exposure through tours and warm-up matches. The team plays in various formats to prepare players for the senior team. Disability teams: Cricket Australia is committed to creating inclusive environments for people with disabilities. The teams administered by Cricket Australia include: * Blind These teams participate in various national and international competitions, promoting the growth of cricket among players with disabilities.

Domestic teams

Cricket Australia also maintains a healthy but independent association with the

Australian Cricketers' Association The Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) is an organisation that represents the professional first-class cricketers of Australia, both past and present. It is not a formally registered Trade Union, but an Incorporated Association. Current ad ...

to provide proper player's rights, welfare requirements and pay agreements.

Domestic Tournaments

History

The first centralised authority for the administration of cricket in Australia was established in 1892 when representatives from the state associations of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria came together to establish the Australasian Cricket Council. However the Australasian Cricket Council was disbanded in 1898, and what is now known as Cricket Australia was established in 1905 as the "Australian Board of Control for International Cricket".Pollard, p. 57. Before its establishment, tours by Australian teams to England were organised and funded by private groups or by the players themselves. Similarly, invitations to English teams were made by private promoters or by individual clubs, such as the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

. The Australasian Cricket Council's one lasting action was to establish the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

, the first-class cricket competition between the Australian colonies. These early tours were lucrative for the players and promoters and cricket administrators looked to find ways to channel some of this money to the destitute clubs, through the state associations. Formal discussions began in January 1905 in Sydney for the formation of a body to take control of tours from the players. A draft constitution was discussed by members of the New South Wales, Victoria, South Australian and Queensland associations. The first meeting of the new board was held at Wesley College in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 6 May 1905. The foundation members were the

New South Wales Cricket Association Cricket NSW (officially known as the ''New South Wales Cricket Association'') is an Australian sporting association that administers cricket in New South Wales. It is based at the Sydney Olympic Park. The New South Wales Blues, the New South ...

and the

Victorian Cricket Association Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to include funding, programs, office accommodation and staff assistance. ...

. South Australia's delegates refused to join the Board because the Board structure denied the players any representation. The

Queensland Cricket Association Queensland Cricket, formerly known as the Queensland Cricket Association, is the governing body of Cricket in Queensland, Australia. Formed in 1876, it is directly responsible for the Queensland Bulls, Queensland Fire, Allan Border Field and Q ...

was represented as an observer only. Queensland did decide to formally join the association with one delegate member the following year, and the constitution was amended in 1906, so that New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria would each have three permanent representatives, and Queensland one representative. In 1907 Tasmania was permitted to send a single representative, and Western Australia did likewise in 1913. Changes to this structure were made in 1914 and 1974 respectively when Queensland and Western Australia formally increased their representation to two each. In 2001, Cricket Australia established the National Indigenous Cricket Advisory Committee (NICAC), which in 2002 established a strategic plan, "Two Cultures: Australia's New Cricket Tradition".

Ngadjuri The Ngadjuri people are a group of Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands lie in the mid north of South Australia with a territory extending from Gawler in the south to Orroroo in the Flinders Ranges in the north. Name Their ethn ...

man

Vince Copley Vincent Warrior Copley (born Vincent Gilbert Warrior; 24 December 1936 – 10 January 2022) was an Aboriginal Australian sportsman, activist, elder, and leader. Early life Vincent Gilbert Copley, usually known as Vince, was born into poverty ...

was the inaugural co-chair of the committee.

Name changes

Cricket Australia has operated under three different names since its foundation. They are: *Australian Board of Control for International Cricket (ABC) (1905–1973) *Australian Cricket Board (ACB) (1973–2003) *Cricket Australia (CA) (2003–present)

Finances

The organisation's revenue was A$380.9 million in the financial year ended 30 June 2015, with a net surplus of $99 million largely attributed to the success of co-hosting the

2015 ICC Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

Competitions

As well as responsibility for Australian international sides, Cricket Australia organises interstate cricket in Australia, including the premier competitions in each of the major forms of the game. These are the

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

(men's competition only), the One-Day Cup (men) and the

, which are the domestic one-day competitions, and the KFC Big Bash League and the Weber Women's Big Bash League, which are the domestic

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

competitions (contested by franchises not state representative teams). Cricket Australia's current and former competitions: *

(first-class, various forms, 1892/93-present) * One-Day Cup (limited-overs, various forms, 1969/70-present) *

KFC Twenty20 Big Bash The KFC Twenty20 Big Bash was a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Australia. The competition was organised by Cricket Australia, and sponsored by fast food chicken outlet KFC. Running over six seasons from 2005–06 to 2010–11, the ...

(T20, 2005/06-2010/11, replaced by KFC BBL) * KFC Big Bash League (T20, 2011/12-present) * Toyota Second XI (red-ball, various forms, 1999/2000-2008/09, 2019/20-present, 2009/10-2018/19 as Futures League) *

Australian Women's Cricket Championships The Australian Women's Cricket Championships was a women's cricket competition which ran from 1931 until 1996. It usually operated as a first-class competition, with matches played over two days. Later editions included limited overs cricket in ...

(first-class and limited-overs, various forms, 1930/31-1995/96, replaced by WNCL) *

(limited-overs, various forms, 1996/97-present) *

Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup The Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup (WT20) was the premier domestic women's Twenty20 cricket competition in Australia. Beginning in 2007 as a series of exhibition matches, the first official tournament took place during the summer of 2009–10. ...

(T20, various forms, 2007-2014/15, replaced by WBBL) * Weber Women's Big Bash League (T20, 2015/16-present, 2015/16-2020/21 as rebel WBBL) Cricket Australia also runs (among others) the Under 19 and Under 17 Male Championships, the Under 18 and Under 15 Female National Championships, the National Indigenous Cricket Championships and the National Cricket Inclusion Championships.

Honours

Cricket Australia also provides awards for various categories of players, including: * Male: Test Player of the Year, One-Day Player of the Year, Bradman Young Player of the Year, Domestic Player of the Year, and the

Allan Border Medal Awarded during the Australian Cricket Awards, the Allan Border Medal is considered to be the most prestigious individual prize in Australian men's cricket. First awarded in 2000, the medal is named after former Australian men's captain Allan Bor ...

for the overall best Australian men's cricketer of the year. * Female: the Belinda Clark Award for the best Australian women's cricketer of the year, the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year, and the Domestic Player of the Year Cricket Australia also honours players for exceptional service to the game of cricket in Australia by annually adding former players of great distinction to the

Australian Cricket Hall of Fame The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the National Sports Museum#Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum, Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum, Australian Sports Museum at the Melbourne C ...

Principals / Chairman of Cricket Australia

Chairmen

Richard Teece Richard Teece (29 April 1847 – 13 December 1928) was an Australian actuary, general manager and actuary of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Teece was born in Paihia, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, the son of William Teece and his wife C ...

: 1892–1893 * Richard Best: 1893–1895 *

Mostyn Evan Griffith Mostyn Evan (22 September 1861 – 25 December 1924), generally referred to as G. M. Evan or Mostyn Evan, was a lawyer and sports administrator in South Australia. History Evan was born in Adelaide the fourth son of the Rev. Cadwallad ...

: 1895–1896; 1910–1911 * John Gibson: 1896–1897 * Will Whitridge: 1897–1900 *

Lawrence Adamson Lawrence Arthur Adamson, CMG, (20 April 1860 – 14 December 1932) was a schoolmaster of Wesley College, Melbourne, Australia, and is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential in the nation's educational history. Upon his reti ...

: 1905–1906 * Ernie Bean: 1906–1907; 1912–1913 * George Barbour: 1907–1908 * George Foxton: 1908–1910 *

Charles Eady Charles John Eady (29 October 1870 – 20 December 1945) was an Australian sportsman, lawyer and politician. Life and career Eady was a cricketer who played for Tasmanian clubs and representative sides in the era before Tasmania was accepted ...

: 1911 * William McElhone: 1911–1912 * James Allen: 1913–1914 *

Harry Blinman Harry Blinman MVO, ISO (30 December 1861 – 23 July 1950) was an Australian cricket player, cricket administrator, and senior public servant in South Australia. Born in Adelaide, Blinman was educated at Pulteney Grammar School under Headmast ...

: 1914–1919 * Harold Bushby: 1919; 1925–1926 * Harry Gregory: 1919–1920; 1922–1923; 1926–1927 * Harry Rush: 1920–1922 * Jack Hutcheon: 1923–1924 * Bernard Scrymgour: 1924–1925 *

Aubrey Oxlade Robert Aubrey Oxlade (16 February 1882 – 13 September 1955) was an Australian cricket administrator. Oxlade was born in Sydney in 1882, the son of Robert Oxlade (1855–1920) and Sara Stanton (1851–1926). He joined Manly Warringah Distri ...

: 1927–1930; 1933–1936; 1945–1948; 1951–1952 * Allen Robertson: 1930–1933; 1936–1945; 1948–1951 * Roy Middleton: 1952–1955 * Frank Cush: 1955–1957 * Bill Dowling: 1957–1960 * Sir

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

: 1960–1963; 1969–1972 * Ewart Macmillan: 1963–1966 * Bob Parish: 1966–1969; 1975–1978 * Tim Caldwell: 1972–1975 *

Phil Ridings Philip Lovett Ridings (2 October 1917 – 13 September 1998) was an Australian cricketer. He attended Unley High School from 1930 to 1934. Nicknamed "Pancho", Ridings played first-class cricket for South Australia from 1937 to 1957, scoring ni ...

: 1980–1983 * Fred Bennett: 1983–1986 * Malcolm Gray: 1986–1989 *

Colin Egar Colin John "Col" Egar (30 March 1928 – 4 September 2008) was an Australian Test cricket umpire. Born in Malvern, South Australia, Egar umpired in 29 Test matches between 1960 and 1969. First-class debut Egar started his career as an ...

: 1989–1992 * Alan Crompton: 1992–1995 * Denis Rogers: 1995–2001 * Robert Merriman: 2001–2005 * Creagh O'Connor: 2005–2008 * Jack Clarke: 2008–2011 *

Wally Edwards Walter John Edwards (born 23 December 1949) is a former Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches and one One Day International in 1974 and 1975. He has maintained his links with Australian cricket since retirement, being the vic ...

: 2011–2015 * David Peever: 2015–2018 * Earl Eddings: 2018–2021 * Richard Freudenstein: 2021–2022 (interim) * Lachlan Henderson: 2022–2023 *

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...

: 2023–present

Secretaries & Chief Executive Officers

* John Portus: 1892–1896 * John Creswell: 1896–1900 * William McElhone: 1905–1910 * Colin Sinclair: 1910–1911 * Sydney Smith: 1911–1927 *

William Jeanes William Henry Jeanes (1883-1 September 1958) was an Australian cricket administrator who held the position of secretary for the Australian Board of Control from 1927 to 1954. He is the longest-serving secretary of the board and its successors ...

: 1927–1954 *

Jack Ledward John Allan Ledward (22 April 1909 – 22 July 1997) was an Australian cricketer and cricket administrator. Ledward played 22 first-class cricket matches as a batsman for Victoria between 1935 and 1939. His highest score was 154 against Tasmani ...

: 1954–1960 * Alan Barnes: 1960–1980 * David Richards: 1980–1993 * Graham Halbish: 1993–1997 *

Malcolm Speed Malcolm Walter Speed (born 14 September 1948) is an Australian businessman and the former CEO of the International Cricket Council. Before he entered the world of cricket, he was a barrister in Melbourne. He was originally the chief executive ...

: 1997–2001 * James Sutherland: 2001–2018 * Kevin Roberts: 2018–2020 * Nick Hockley: 2020–2024 *

Todd Greenberg Todd Greenberg (born 2 July 1971) is an Australian sports administrator who served as chief executive officer of the NRL between March 2016 and April 2020. In January 2021 he was appointed as chief executive officer of the Australian Cricketers ...

: 2024–present

National Selection Panel

The National Selection Panel is the part of Cricket Australia responsible for team selections for each of the Australian national sides in every form of cricket. The current three-man panel for the Australian men's sides is: George Bailey (chairman), Andrew McDonald (head coach) and

Tony Dodemaide Anthony Ian Christopher Dodemaide (born 5 October 1963) is an Australian former test cricketer. After a three-year stint as Chief Executive of the Western Australian Cricket Association in Perth, he became the current chief executive of Cric ...

. The current four-person panel for the Australia women's sides is: Shawn Flegler (chairman),

Matthew Mott Matthew Peter Mott (born 3 October 1973) is an Australian cricket coach and a former first-class cricketer. He is the former coach of the Australian Women's Cricket Team. Mott also previously coached the England men's white-ball cricket team, a ...

(head coach),

Avril Fahey Avril Fahey (born 24 June 1974) is a former Australian cricket player. Fahey first played for the Western Australian women's cricket team in the 1992–93 cricket season. She played for Western Australia between 1992 and 2012. She played 164 ...

and

Julie Hayes Julie Hayes (born 2 May 1973 in Ryde, Sydney) is an Australian former cricket player. Hayes played 111 Women's National Cricket League matches and two Women's Twenty20 matches for the New South Wales Breakers. Hayes played six Tests, 59 One D ...

Board of directors

Cricket Australia is governed by nine directors, who work collectively in the national interest of Australian cricket. The chief executive officer reports to the board of nine directors. The current nine board members are: Last updated: 13 October 2022

References

Bibliography

* ''Wisden Cricketers Almanack'' *

External links

Cricket Australia official website

Cricket news, scores and highlights produced by Cricket Australia's digital content team

Official CA Facebook page

{{Authority control * * 1905 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1905