Photo Credit: ICC
Cricket Australia congratulates John Harnden AM on his significant contribution to cricket as he steps down from the CA Board of Directors after eight years.
Harnden, who is currently CEO of Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust, is one of Australia’s pre-eminent sports administrators and has played a leading role in cricket administration for the past 14 years.
As CEO of the SACA from 2010-2012 he was instrumental in the highly successful redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval.
Harnden was CEO of the ICC Cricket World Cup Organising Committee in 2015 in Australia and NZ, which was widely considered one of the most successful staged with more than one million attendees and $1 billion in economic benefit to the host nations.
He chaired the organising committee for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020, a transformative moment for sport in Australia, which included the final being played in front of 86,174 people at the MCG – a record crowd for women’s sport in Australia. He was also chair for the highly successful ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 that included the iconic match between India and Pakistan at the MCG.
Most recently, Harnden has played a significant part in measures to enhance the Big Bash Leagues as the chair of CA’s Big Bash Advisory Group, and was a member of CA’s Audit and Risk Committee and Media Rights Advisory Group.
CA Chair Mike Baird said:
“John has had an extensive influence on cricket in Australia and been an impactful director of CA for the past eight years.
“With key pillars of our five-year strategic plan in place and having served 8 years, John felt now was a good time for him to step down.
“John has been one of Australia’s foremost sports administrators and been a huge support to me in my time on the Board and as Chair.
“On behalf of everyone involved across Australian Cricket, I’d like to thank John for his expertise, passion and clear decision making over his term.”
SACA will now commence their process to nominate a replacement Director.
