Western Australian Cricket Association boss Christina Matthews claims her tense relationship with board members was related to her gender as the organisation grapples with yet another resignation.
Matthews confirmed marketing expert Nicola Brandon quit the board on Monday night.
WACA CEO Christina Matthews.
The resignation came following a public dispute over statues honouring WA cricket greats, including Dennis Lillee, that had split the association’s board.
Brandon’s exit makes her the fourth board member to resign this year after the recent resignation of former WA sports minister Terry Waldron for mental health reasons and former Australian test cricketers Graeme Wood and Mike Veletta, who resigned earlier this year.
Matthews told Nine News Brandon had blamed the role’s time demands for her decision.
“From what I understand, she has a young family, and she’s finding the time commitment far greater than she expected,” she said.
“There was nothing of anything else in her resignation other than that, from what I understand.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Matthews told 6PR’s Liam Bartlett that WACA was a successful organisation on and off the field, but blamed issues she had faced with certain board members on her gender.
“My relationship with the board as a whole is fine, it’s no surprise to anybody that my entire tenure here, traditionalists have not been happy with having a female progressive CEO,” she said.
“I’ve lived with that for 10 years, the fact that people still are concerned about me and the way I manage it is just day-to-day business for me.”
Tensions have been building in the WACA for several months, but the statue issue has thrust the board’s divisions into the spotlight.
The WACA had appointed a panel to investigate honouring Dennis Lillee, former female test cricket Zoe Goss, and an unnamed Aboriginal cricketer or team using bronze statues around the historic ground.
However, it split the board with Wood, Veletta and other members describing it as a distraction from the WACA’s $100 million ground upgrades.
Wood told 6PR his suggestions of honouring former Australian batter Shelley Nitschke or the 2021 Big Bash League-winning team were discarded.
He said he also had concerns about costs and wanted the decision to be put on hold as the ground improvement project was ongoing.
“It was causing some disruptions at board level and I think it’s such an important decision, these statues are going to be with us forever. I think we needed plenty of time to make the right decision,” he said.
Wood also rejected Matthew’s claim that her gender caused problems with some board members.
“Nothing further from the truth in that regard. I just think the best person should be in the role, whether it’s male, female, whatever,” he said.
Another board member, Tom Percy KC, has called for a governance inquiry into the WACA.
But Matthews didn’t think an inquiry was necessary.
“I think it’s very extreme to say there needs to be an inquiry; every board has its challenges and its disagreements,” she said.
Brandon was approached for comment.
WACA was contacted for further comment.
