James Sutherland

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 1  14 April - 12 May 2008 ]

Scoring with Commerce and cricket

CEO of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland – a life-long cricket enthusiast – combined playing cricket for the University of Melbourne with studying for a Melbourne Commerce degree. He tells University of Melbourne Voice writer DAVID SCOTT how moving from the traditional world of chartered accounting into sports administration was a calculated leap into an emerging field then not considered to have ‘a serious career path’.

DS How long have you been a cricket fan? What are some of your earliest memories?

JS We have done a lot of research about the different categories of fans who support cricket and I’m definitely in the life-long purist category. Both my parents were teachers and I grew up in a school community with lots of sports facilities and plenty of kids for playing companions.

Apart from the recollections of endless summers playing in that environment, I remember following matches on TV and radio and keeping scores in ABC season guides – perhaps my book-keeping tendencies began there?

The Centenary Test at the MCG in 1977 also made a huge impression on me. Outside of being a great cricket match, it was a brilliant occasion; pretty well every former Australian and English Test cricketer attended and I recall spending much of the game collecting signatures in my autograph book.

DS You played for the University of Melbourne’s team while you were studying here. How did you enjoy that experience?

JS I studied Commerce at Melbourne and this was an invaluable prelude to my professional career, which was initially in chartered accounting with Ernst & Young, before moving into sports management. During my time at Uni, I was fortunate to also spend time in residence at Ormond College.

The combination of university life, college life and playing cricket at Melbourne University Cricket Club made for a busy and enjoyable educational experience.

The Club enjoyed some success, having been a competition chopping block for the previous couple of decades. The first of two first grade premierships I played in at Uni came 60-odd years after the Club’s only previous flag. The celebrations were memorable, as were many of the people I played with and against.

One of the great things about university sport is getting to know and becoming friends with interesting people, from different backgrounds, mostly studying different things. Premiership team reunions are great occasions – doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, scientists, teachers and even sports administrators all reuniting to reminisce about our playing days!

DS At what point before, during or after your commerce degree did you realise that you could make a career out of your passion for cricket?

JS Moving from chartered accounting at Ernst & Young to a finance role at the Carlton Football Club – my first job in sport – was something I thought long and hard about at the time. In the early 1990s, sports management was not regarded as a serious job with a well-defined professional career path. So from that point of view I was reasonably anxious about whether I was doing the right thing in moving out of mainstream business. But the timing was right and the industry has developed enormously since then.

The management of sport today is a serious and very professional part of the broader sport and entertainment industry. University degrees and specialist subjects in sports management are now on offer. No different from any major industry or major employer, the sports and entertainment industry demands all the skills and profess-ionalism of its employees. It is hard work, but by the same token, I feel very fortunate to be able to work in a field that services the Australian community’s passion for cricket, a sport that brings so much enjoyment to so many people.

DS Do you still don the pads or pick up the ball now you’re CEO?

JS I think my last proper match was a work team lining up against an Andrew Demetriou-led AFL management team. With three young children, my playing days are now limited to the backyard, beach or the local park with the kids.

DS What’s your vision for the sport in Australia over the next five to 10 years?

JS Cricket Australia has a formal vision for cricket to be Australia’s favourite sport. More specifically, we want it to be a sport for all Australians: men and women; boys and girls; Indigenous Australians; Australians of non-English-speaking backgrounds and descents, as well as Australians of English-speaking backgrounds.

Our 2005-09 strategic plan contains a series of objectives, projects, targets and timelines which I am confident will collectively help us achieve our vision.

The success of our national men’s and women’s teams is an important part of this. I often say that elite success is the best advertisement we can have for the game. But we are also working from the bottom up, encouraging youngsters of all backgrounds to take up the game and doing whatever we can to ensure cricket is accessible to all Australians, either as players or as fans.

DS How have new ideas such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) challenged or changed that view?

JS There are challenges ensuring that the IPL complements but does not compromise existing international and other cricket. But I am an optimist and hope that IPL succeeds.

Twenty20 cricket excites me because it offers a format which will win new fans to cricket, not only here in Australia or with IPL in India, but around the world. For instance, Twenty20 could be a vehicle for taking the game into the USA, it might even be a vehicle that allows cricket to become an Olympic sport, profiling the game to new audiences in places like China or Eastern Europe.

Specifically on IPL, if it succeeds, hopefully it will also allow the development of a ‘best versus the best’ tournament of interstate or equivalent Twenty20 sides from Australia, India, South Africa and England to play each other.

DS You have mentioned before that you wanted to study at Melbourne because of its reputation as well as the study environment, surrounding you with people from different backgrounds. Do you think that has helped you in your travels as Cricket Australia CEO?

JS Education is more than teachers, books and lectures, important as they are. A good campus offers a total environment which enriches on a range of levels. I mentioned that I got a commerce and a cricket education, but I also met and learned from people around me in a manner that broadened my view on the world and on the people who make up the world. Travelling the world as a cricket administrator has certainly rounded that out.

The English invented the game but more importantly, they exported it to a diverse range of countries and cultures. One of the game’s strengths, when things are working well, is its power to bring diverse peoples together through their common love of the sport.

DS How do you balance player safety and the need to maintain and expand the game in an era of terrorism and political instability?

JS It is surprising how many apparently complex issues in professional or business life become easier when you revert to basic or core principles. And cricket is a values-based sport, along with golf, probably the only major global sport that formally embodies its values in the way the game is played.

On the issue of player safety, the answer is easy: safety of the team and the support staff who travel with the team always comes first. If it is not safe, we don’t go, and our actions over the years speak for themselves.

We support the International Cricket Council’s objective of promoting the sport’s global growth by ensuring all ICC members play each other regularly, both at home and abroad. But we have, on four occasions now, postponed overseas visits when we were not sure about safety and security – because in the end, they have to be the priority.