“I feel a little uncomfortable about it, because… it’s not about me,” Nick Hockley says. Cricket Australia’s outgoing chief executive has just five months left in sport’s most demanding role, but he continues to avoid the limelight. “I know I’m nearing the end, but I still have a lot to do.”
The Birmingham-born son of a doctor father and optometrist mother turned 50 three weeks ago. By the time he leaves CA in March, it will have been almost five years since he was named interim and then permanent CEO. “I didn’t want to have a big party,” he says of his birthday. “Maybe in March, or at an end-of-season party.”
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There will likely be plenty to celebrate after a highly anticipated summer that involves a men’s series against India and a women’s Ashes series against England – Australian cricket’s traditional foe and emerging challenger. The absurdity that an Englishman was given responsibility for Australia’s favorite pastime – at a time of great need – is not lost on Hockley and his friends. “My friends in England make fun of me all the time,” he says.
Yet Hockley’s ties to Australia run deep. While studying at Oxford University, he lived with three Australians and two of them remain close friends. The other, Ian Tucker, died of head trauma on a rugby field in 1996.
Less than 12 months after this tragedy, Hockley was working in London in PWC’s corporate finance department and quickly requested a temporary transfer to Sydney. There he met his Australian wife, Lauren, and the couple initially settled in the UK, while Hockley worked on the 2012 London Olympics.
“Part of the deal with Lauren was that we got married in Sydney in 2010 and then after the Olympics we would emigrate,” says Hockey. “I went out and met a lot of people in sport in Australia [in 2010]and they said, ‘Well, it’s pretty hard now, just wait until you’re on the ground.’
Back in London, he eventually secured a Skype interview with John Harnden – who now runs Melbourne and the Olympic Parks, and was a board member of Cricket Australia for much of the Hockley era – who was director general of the men’s world cricket 2015 then imminent. Cup in Australia.
“It was two in the morning just before the London Olympics, I had just come back from the Olympic Park and Jemima, my daughter, was six months old and she was screaming and I couldn’t get her to shut up,” Hockley said. reminds.
Despite – or perhaps because of – his daughter’s contributions, Hockley got the job. He was put in charge of the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup in which 86,174 people watched the final, a watershed moment for women’s sport and a precursor to the Matildas buzz that accompanied the 2023 Fifa World Cup.
Then he was thrust into the role of chief executive just as Covid took hold, replacing Kevin Roberts who was ousted after just 20 months. Cricket in Australia was still reeling from the 2018 sandpaper controversy, head office had laid off 40 staff and the pandemic was set to demolish the peak of the game’s revenue cycle involving the Test tours local stores for men in India and England.
Hockley has managed to stabilize the game, signing major broadcast and player pay deals that prepare Australian cricket for the next so-called strategic cycle, while remaining largely out of the spotlight. “It has been the privilege of my life to hold this position and I still have much to do,” he said. “To get to work on something that so many people care about – I believe that any business, even going back to my work in corporate finance – is all about relationships. »
Although financial concerns have rarely been absent, hockey’s greatest challenges have come from elsewhere. He cites the departure of Justin Langer as coach – when he was not offered a long-term contract and chose to resign immediately – and the resignation of men’s Test captain Tim Paine, after complaints Explicit messages the wicketkeeper exchanged with a Cricket Tasmania employee have become public.
“The coaching transition, as well as Tim’s situation, was definitely the hardest because I had so much admiration and respect. [for them]and also these are really difficult situations. In the first case, we had to make some tough decisions, but in the second case, when someone you’ve worked very, very closely with is going through a difficult time, that’s been the hardest part.
Paine’s 2022 book was critical of Hockley’s handling of the saga and the captain’s eventual resignation, and the Tasmanian retired from first-class cricket soon after. He has returned to elite cricket over the past year and was last week named head coach of the Prime Minister’s XI team.
Hockley says he keeps in touch. “Behind the scenes, we really did our best to support him, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s making great strides as a coach, and being in and around the game. so much to offer and I really enjoy his company. I would like to think that, I hope he will say that I really tried to invest in the relationship during this very difficult time.
Hockley plans to stay in Sydney and look for work there after a break. The 2027 Men’s and 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cups appear to be a natural fit for the former England hooker and student representative who has previously played in front of 75,000 people at Twickenham. And with the 2032 Brisbane Olympics approaching, his services will no doubt be in high demand.
So it was a surprise when reports emerged that Cricket Australia’s board did not view him as the right fit as long-term CEO. Hockley calls this “conjecture” and refuses to discuss it in detail.
“It’s really important to me that you leave this place stronger than you found it, but also that the transfer of power goes smoothly. The biggest question for me was whether I would do another full strategy cycle again, or whether I would take this incredible experience and continue doing something else today,” he says.
Apart from grievances from state associations over the direction of cricket and share of funding, the most direct criticism Hockley received was over his public performance. “I think I learned a tremendous amount in this role, and there are parts of the role that I love, and there are parts of the role that I find difficult, but I think it’s the same for anyone in any discipline,” he said. said.
The Englishman believes the game’s biggest challenge today is ensuring it reflects “contemporary, multicultural Australia” and supports areas like women’s cricket. “What you’ve seen is incredible growth, and there’s real momentum, but we’re not there yet. We have made significant progress in terms of pay, but there is still no real equal pay,” he says.
In Hockley’s modest Jolimont office, within sight of the MCG, a pink and purple sequinned costume depicting a cartoon woman in the shape of a cricket bat catches your eye. It was worn by the dancers supporting Katy Perry during the historic 2020 World Cup final and now occupies the corner.
Sitting opposite, Hockley adds a final thought. “It seems a little premature, but I was very lucky, you helped me think a little,” he said. “One thing I’m not good at is celebrating our successes, I just tell myself ‘move on’. But I’m getting better at trying to celebrate everyone’s hard work.
“And then the other part is I’m not very good at enjoying cricket and the events, because you feel very responsible and you just want to make sure everything is okay. So I’m determined to enjoy this summer .