Newly appointed Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg says among some of the game’s biggest challenges is the “greatest opportunity”

It might be four months until Todd Greenberg settles behind Cricket Australia’s Chief Executive Officer’s desk in Melbourne but he is more than mindful of the challenges that await when he does.

Greenberg, currently the head of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, was this week announced as successor to incumbent CA boss Nick Hockley who will step down from the role at domestic season’s end in March.

But given his current position and the central role he played alongside Hockley in finalising last year’s Memorandum of Understanding between CA and the ACA, Greenberg is acutely aware of the issues confronting cricket in Australia and worldwide.

At the forefront is the ongoing battle between bilateral fixtures and the growing presence of short-format franchise competitions that battle for ever-dwindling space in the global calendar.

And while Greenberg was reluctant to speak in detail about the other issues he will need to confront upon assuming Australian cricket’s top job next year, he identified that as among the most pressing of the game’s myriad stress points.

“It’s pretty clear that the global system of cricket is changing,” he said in Adelaide on the eve of the second NRMA Insurance Test between Australia and India which is set to follow the series opener in Perth as among the most-viewed Test matches of all time.

“Franchise cricket is putting pressure on bilateral cricket, and the way we have known cricket for such a long time in this country is changing in front of our very eyes.

“That change can be really good and positive and commercial (but) we have to get our heads around that.

“Cricket is not a sport that has traditionally loved change, so we have to embrace that, and that takes leadership.

“In my view, in Australian sports, cricket has the biggest challenges coming to it of all the domestic sports, but it also has the greatest opportunity.

“And to marry those two things together will be the definition of success.”

In unveiling Greenberg as CEO-elect before he reverts back to his current job at the ACA, Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird revealed the recruitment process to find Hockley’s replacement essentially required trying to unearth “a unicorn”.

However, Greenberg’s experience not only as players’ representative but as former chief executive of the National Rugby League, with the Canterbury-Bankstown NRL outfit and general manager of Stadium Australia on top of his cricket playing pedigree with Sydney grade club Randwick made him the stand-out candidate.

“We saw people internationally, we saw people corporate CEOs, we saw sports administrators,” Baird said today.

“We saw those in media, publishing and obviously in cricket.

“What we were looking for was a unicorn who brings deep commercial experience, who manages stakeholders, who’s got great leadership, who’s a seasoned CEO and, most importantly, who has a passion for and understands cricket.

“A very difficult task, but we’re delighted that Todd Greenberg is the CEO and we think he fits all those criteria.”

Asked about the impending change in focus from a players’ perspective at the ACA to a broader vision of the game, Greenberg reiterated his view that the growth of cricket across the board will, in turn, deliver the best outcomes for Australia’s men and women players.

But he added that while he has been a passionate and powerful advocate for the players’ collective voice, he has not always automatically agreed with every position they have taken.

He also jokingly conceded his position with the players’ union means he might be viewed as hailing “from the dark side” in the eyes of some global administrators, but is looking forward to embracing his new role where “there are no sides and we can work together”.

And while he vowed that after an upcoming round of radio interviews over coming days he would not be assuming his CA guise until he formally assumes the job next March, he foreshadowed a more public profile than his predecessor when he does.

Part of the reason for that increased visibility is to communicate directly with fans in Australia and beyond to build an even stronger relationship between CA and the cricket-loving public.

“I’m going to be talking to you (media) probably more often than maybe you might want, because my communication with fans is through you,” Greenberg said.

“Unashamedly, that’s how I will see the media as my opportunity to talk directly to the fans.

“We want to communicate strongly.

“We want to explain the reasons why we might do certain things.

“That might polarise opinions, sometimes people might not agree and that’s cool, that’s okay.

“I am, in simple terms, absolutely pumped for the opportunity that I’ve been afforded.”