Todd Man Out

GH on CA's bad week

Here’s what you now get when you return to the LinkedIn profile of the ‘visionary CTO and technology leader’ whom Cricket Australia terminated on Thursday night after an independent investigator upheld a whistleblower’s complaints of self-dealing in $600,000 worth of contracts. CA will be hoping the story, set in motion last Tuesday by Michael West Media, vanishes as easily down the memory hole.

CA isn’t the first and won’t be the last organisation caught off guard by a soi-disant guru in this area. Information technology is like plumbing, generally the preserve of specialists, seldom scrutinised unless it stops working. As one who barely knows how to turn their laptop on, I’m sympathetic to anybody who loses their way in this connection.

Still, rather a lot remains obscure about the misadventure in question. It is the consequence, following a report from the consultant Sapient, of a very deliberate corporate swerve. Under Nick Hockley, CA had built a substantial digital capability, from community to high performance, including a long-term partnership with HCL. Sport was then at peak infatuation with data management. In the name of economy, Hockley’s successor Todd Greenberg decided to reverse course. Scores of experienced staff have been made redundant.

Gone