There is still gas in the Cricket Australia explosion. Pat Howard and Ben Amarfio have become the latest casualties of the ongoing crisis at CA, with the body announcing that both have been removed from their roles.
Howard, CA’s executive general manager of team performance, had already signalled his intention to leave after next year’s Ashes series, but his departure has been brought forward to next week by new chief executive Kevin Roberts as he continues to seek “cultural change” within the organisation.
The Ethics Centre report into the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket 18 months ago claimed that a damaging ‘win at all costs’ mentality had been fostered within CA. Much of the blame for this has been laid at Howard’s feet.
Belinda Clarke will take over the role of performance chief on an interim basis while a successor is sought.
Amarfio, meanwhile, was executive general manager of broadcasting, digital media and commercial, and was confirmed by a CA statement to have left his role on Wednesday with immediate effect.
According to Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper, he was escorted from the building at the end of what Roberts called a “really challenging day”.
Amarfio played a key role in securing the A$1.8bn broadcast deal earlier this year, a lucrative deal for CA but one which caused controversy as it removed a significant amount of Australian home cricket from free-to-air TV.
The latest departures follow those of director Mark Taylor and chairman David Peever in the two weeks since the release of the Ethics Centre report into the ’sandpapergate’ scandal.