WA Cricket chair Avril Fahey will step down in mid-March next year despite being asked to extend

WA Cricket chair Avril Fahey will step down in mid-March next year after being asked to extend her tenure til the end of the cricket season. Fahey, a decorated former Australia and WA player, has served a maximum three terms on the board of directors, but was asked to remain in the position to help ease in new CEO John Stephenson who has been in the job for less than a month. A leader in the hospital and health care industry and director of Diabetes WA, Fahey, 50, will cut official ties with WA Cricket for the first time since her first season as a right-arm off-spin bowler in 1992-93. “It’s not a great idea to change your CEO and your chair in the same week so I’ll stay on for a bit longer and help John get set up,” Fahey told The West Australian. “He has hit the ground running, he is doing a great job. “But that will be it for me after the summer. I’ll be saying goodbye to WA Cricket for the first time since I was 18 years old.” Former State bowler Peter Capes, the CEO of Subiaco Football Club, is vice-chair. A former Test and ODI player for Australia, Fahey played for WA over two decades, retiring in 2012 after becoming the first woman to play 150 matches for WA. She replaced Terry Waldron as acting chair and then became the first women to serve full-time in the role in December 2022. “The game is a really different place to when I first walked in,” Fahey said. “When I think back to debuting as an 18 year old we were still selling chocolates, we had one training shirt for the girls. And the boys were also not where they are now. Over 30 years the game has really changed.” Fahey has helped to steer WA Cricket through a challenging period, with Stephenson replacing long-time CEO Christina Matthews and a $169million redevelopment on the northern wing on track for completion later next year. WA Cricket received $139.7 million from the Federal, State and Local Governments and $4m from Cricket Australia towards the redevelopment. WA Cricket will pick up the $15.3m shortfall and with just under $3m raised by the WA Cricket Foundation, they will need to find another $12.3m, with the organisation looking at naming rights sponsors to the reburbished venue. But Fahey stressed a naming rights partner would only ever prefix the WACA Ground in name. “We are really strong that whatever naming rights we get it has to be the WACA Ground. We are working really hard to get a partner that aligns with us that is important to West Australians,” Fahey said. An independent inquiry which was released last December found the WACA board lacked cohesion and understanding between directors, executive and members. But the review by WA barrister James Healy cleared directors and the executive of any wrongdoing following accusations it failed to comply with proper governance. The inquiry also found a “negative tone” at board meetings and a lack of “open and constructive communication” was a contributing factor behind a spate of resignations. “The organsiation has made some really big leaps this last year. It’s been a tough year, we have had some real challenges around our governance at board level to make sure we are all leaning in the right direction,” Fahey said. Fahey was confident she would leave with the organisation in good shape on and off the field. “The game is attracting new fans all the time,” Fahey said. “We talk about the Big Bash being the gateway into cricket. We are seeing that every time we have a Big Bash game new fans are coming. “It is short, it is sharp and they are falling in love with the game. “We have got some challenges in the future, with franchise cricket around the world. and the strength of India and what they are doing with franchises in the Middle East, in the Caribbean, and in South Africa. “What we are trying to do here is protect the future of the game, whatever that might be. “Personally, I hope it’s Test cricket and red ball cricket for the States. But I think there is probably another version of cricket to come. We’ve seen The Hundred, we’ve seen Hong Kong Sixes, the game continues to need to evolve so we can keep it strong.” Fahey was hopeful WA cricket fans would fill Optus Stadium for the West Test. “Every Test match is important. What we have seen in the past is that if people don’t turn up to watch Test cricket there are plenty of other venues that want to have the game,” Fahey said. “If our fans want Test cricket in WA they have got to come. “Having secured the first Test of the summer (for three years) is very helpful. It is in a nice window for us at the end of year which enables people who are starting to go on holidays and it is good for the corporates. “And It leaves our Big Bash window open. Securing that first Test long term is really important. We have done it for three years. West Australians need to turn up and help us secure it for longer.” She said the biggest challenge for her successor would be “continuing the momentum”. “We’ve got a fairly new board now. I think the longest tenure once I leave will be two-and-a-half years,” she said. “It’s about helping the CEO and staff get the ground improvement project finished and delivering on the promise, protecting and securing the future of WA cricket.”