Roberts named Cricket Australia CEO

Melbourne, October 3: Cricket Australia (CA) announced the appointment of Kevin Roberts as its new chief executive officer.

Roberts, who has been at CA since 2012, will replace James Sutherland at the helm, moving from his role as chief operating officer.

He joined the CA board six years ago before assuming an executive role in 2015, while he was promoted to his previous position in May this year. Roberts was also CA's lead negotiator in its pay dispute with players last year.

"It is a great privilege and responsibility to lead and serve the cricket community as CEO of Cricket Australia. I thank the board for this opportunity and look forward to commencing in the role," Roberts said in a statement on Wednesday.

"One of the many things I love about cricket as our national sport is its ability to bring people together and inspire us, regardless of our age, gender or cultural background.

"Our success is made possible by the hard work of Cricket Australia employees, players, coaches and state and territory cricket associations, along with the contribution of volunteers who are the lifeblood of our game in the community. I am inspired by the many people who give so much to cricket in paid and unpaid roles and I am passionate about helping them achieve ongoing success.

"It's also true that the game and Cricket Australia have faced some difficult times recently, but we will bounce back, just as our organisation has overcome challenges on and off the field many times in its proud history.

"Under my leadership, we will be deeply committed to providing the best experiences of cricket to everyone who watches the game or plays the game, and we will work closely with our broadcasters and commercial partners to deliver on that commitment."

Roberts has previously served as CEO of Australia-based multinational sports apparel company 2XU, while he has also worked with Adidas.

He played cricket for Australia at youth level and featured for New South Wales in 23 first-class matches.

Sutherland resigned as CA CEO in June this year, as the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa continued.