At a Special General Meeting held today, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) members voted unanimously to adopt a new Constitution. This vote follows a period of consultation and input into the structure and governance of NZC from a wide cross section of the cricketing community, including its 6 Major Associations and 22 District Associations.
L-R - NZC President Stephen Boock, NZC Chair Chris Moller, NZC CEO David White, NZC COO Craig Presland, NZC Head of Cricket Operations Lindsay Crocker.
Chairman Chris Moller's address to the Special General Meeting (PDF)New NZC Constitution ( PDF)
NZC Board skills and competencies framework (PDF)
Key new elements in the Constitution include:
• NZC Board Members will be elected by NZC members following a selection and recommendation process run by an independent Appointments Panel.
• The Appointments Panel will comprise a convenor (nominated by the NZC Board), three Major Association (MA) Chairpersons (rotated each year from the six MA Chairpersons) and one person nominated by Sport New Zealand.
• NZC Board Member vacancies will be advertised publicly and anyone can apply.
• A skills matrix has been developed and will be applied to the selection of Directors and composition of the NZC Board - this can be updated in future in order to address the changing environment and requirements of the sport.
• NZC Board Members may be paid fees (currently they are not) upon an Appointments Panel recommendation, however this is dependent upon approval by NZC members at its Annual General Meeting.
• Greater consistency with the “model constitution” as developed by Sport New Zealand.
The process to transition the governance of NZC to the new Constitution has now begun. Today, the Appointments Panel has been constituted, and will be made up of:
• Stephen Boock - NZC President, Convenor
• Rex Smith - Auckland Cricket Chairman
• Lachlan Muldowney - Northern Districts Chairman
• Murray Hughes - Otago Cricket Chairman
• Sir John Wells - Sport New Zealand nomination.
The Appointments Panel will run the NZC Board Member selection process over the next 10 weeks and then make its recommendations to the 28 NZC members.
Public advertising for applications as a NZC Board Member will commence this weekend in leading NZ newspapers, SEEK online, www.blackcaps.co.nz/careers, and www.sheffield.co.nz.
The current NZC Board Members will continue to serve as Directors until a new NZC Board is elected at another Special General Meeting to be held in September. If a current NZC Board Member is to continue in this role following the meeting, he or she must be re-elected through the process run by the Appointments Panel under the new Constitution.
NZC Chairman Chris Moller says. “We’re delighted our Members have endorsed the direction set out in the new Constitution. It gives us added impetus to complete our constitutional review and elect a new Board of Directors. We’re extremely pleased with the engagement from our Members in this process, and confident that we have agreement on the best way forward for cricket in New Zealand”.
Next steps
The next steps in this process are:
- 13 July 2013: advertising to the public commences
- 10 September 2013: Appointments Panel advises NZC of its recommendations for the eight directors roles
- 19 September 2013: Second Special General Meeting for 28 Members to endorse the Appointments Panel recommendations for the election of Directors.
NZC Chairman Chris Moller has also announced he and several current directors will not be seeking re-election to the Board. “I have been Chairman of New Zealand Cricket for three years and a director for five years, the same duration that I chose to be involved in New Zealand Rugby and being Chairman is a hugely time consuming role,” he said.
Chris Moller added, “I also think it is in the best interests of cricket in New Zealand for a new Chairman to be inducted into the International Cricket Council during the tenure of Alan Isaac as President so as to best facilitate the new Chair’s entry to the Council.”
The other current Board members not seeking re-election are Bill Francis, Sir John Hansen, and Therese Walsh.
Existing Board members Stuart Heal, Don Mackinnon and Greg Barclay intend to seek reappointment.
The NZC Board members unanimously resolved that they and Chris Moller would remain in their current positions until the Special General Meeting on Thursday 19 September to elect the new Board.
