CHENNAI: The past month and a half has been a bit of an exciting phase for Christina Matthews. The most capped Australian female Test cricketer, one of the senior cricket administrators in the country, Matthews became the president of the Australian Cricketers’ Association in December.
“I've been doing a lot of reading and understanding the governance of the ACA,” an excited Matthews tells The New Indian Express. “I'll get the opportunity at the end of January to be in Melbourne for about seven days where I hopefully can go in and meet the staff, sit down with the acting CEO and get a handle on what our challenges are going forward,” she adds.
Former Chief Executive Officer of Western Australia Cricket Association, Matthews is the first female president of the organisation that has played an integral part in the welfare and rights of Australian cricketers since its formation in 1997. In the 28 years, the ACA's role in ensuring players come first has been instrumental in keeping the cricketing culture rich and healthy.
From getting state and central contracts for the players — men and women — to continually working with the Memorandum of Understanding they have signed with Cricket Australia to ensuring that the athletes have good medical care and are prepared for life after cricket, the ACA has been with the players in every step.
It is something Matthews and the ACA are very proud of. Players have the option of studying at no cost to themselves while playing, work experience programmes where they could work in different environments and see what they like to do and welfare programmes to ensure the mental health of the cricketers.
"There's a support network there for them if they are having any difficulties in that area or ensuring that they are prepared for the challenges that come in an environment which is all about selection really and managing the ups and downs of being a professional cricketer,” says Matthews.
On the cricketing front, the total revenue share players get has gone up from nine per cent in 1997 to 30 per cent share of agreed revenue with 2.5 per cent of which being performance based (according to the current MoU). The livelihood of players and the opportunities they get across the world in this day and age is incomparable to what was the case when Matthews was a player.
The road to get here has been a long and arduous one — a journey filled with numerous stalemates, continual negotiations between ACA, CA and the players. And as and when any change happens from a sporting point of view, the MoU gets amended accordingly. For example, the MoU was amended last October following the reduction of Women's Big Bash League games from 14 to ten. To compensate for the number of matches, women’s T20 Spring Challenge Competition was introduced which also saw domestic female player earnings increased by up to $7,000.
A life member of the ACA, Matthews' two decades of administrative experience, including 12 years as WACA CEO will come in handy in taking the ACA forward. In her time at the ACA, the former cricketer was at the forefront of the transformation in WACA, including the establishment of The Perth Stadium which had its share of opposition within the community.
"One of the key things I've learned in my time is you never say no to anything until you have really examined what the opportunities are. That enabled us to shift international cricket to the new stadium and bring a real growth to the game in WA as well as the redevelopment of the WACA. There's plenty of people who will tell you things can't be done, but you've got to be open to new ideas, new opportunities, and examine them before you dismiss them," says Matthews.
"I think that is cricket's greatest challenge is to keep looking to the future and not just rule things out. Over the last year, we've heard a lot about Test cricket being dead and here we are, the biggest-ever attendance at the MCG in history for a Test match. There's no doubt Test cricket's alive and well, but there are also other forms of cricket where players are able to make a full-time living now and we've got to work out and work together on how we make those opportunities continue to grow."
The role of ACA has become more significant than ever with the opportunities players have in franchise-based leagues around the world. “It's becoming even more important with providing players assistance when they go into leagues all over the world. We used to have to think about the relationship between the state associations and Cricket Australia. Now, we've got to be available to help players, whether they're playing in Bangladesh, Abu Dhabi, India, or wherever they're playing, and make sure they know they can get in touch with us if they've got any issues whatsoever.
"What I want to do in my role with the ACA is to work with the staff who are already doing a great job but to look forward to what is the game going to become, how we position the players to be able to make the most of the opportunities, and how do we protect them in some areas, where player rights are not as well understood as others,” Matthews explains.
With Todd Greenberg, Matthews' predecessor at the ACA, taking charge as the CA CEO in March, the relationship between the two organisations have never been better. For Matthews, it is about working with the existing system and how to position the players at the forefront while the sports move forward.
"I think this is the closest we have ever been to being partners in the game. That's a result of the people who have been doing the negotiations over the last couple of years, both at CA and at the ACA, who have kind of understood that the players are important, the players' welfare is important, and equally, the ACA knows the growth of the game is very important.
"There's give and take on both parts, but you have got to go to these negotiations with an open mind, knowing what are absolutely essential things and knowing the things that you can sort of not give away, but you can move a little bit on. But first and foremost, the players' welfare and their financial security is front of mind for the ACA," Matthews signs off.