Ashleigh Gardner "Cheating" Controversy Prompts Cricket Australia To Tighten Policy
Todd Greenberg also revealed that Cricket Australia was aware of the relationship between Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Voll before it became public.
- Cricket Australia was aware of Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Voll's relationship before it became public
- CA executive Todd Greenberg has confirmed that Gardner's future as vice-captain was discussed by officials
- "We've got a Respect at Work policy, which we've now put some additional measures in place," said Greenberg
Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Todd Greenberg has extended support to all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner after she was retained as the vice-captain of the women's national team. Gardner has been in the news ever since her estranged wife, Monica Wright, accused the all-rounder of cheating on her with teammate Georgia Voll. Wright had also slammed Cricket Australia (CA) for not taking action against Gardner and allowing her to hold a leadership position in the team. Now, CA chief executive Todd Greenberg has confirmed that Gardner's future as vice-captain was discussed by board officials, but it was eventually decided that the 29-year-old will continue to be part of the leadership group.
"It was discussed yesterday at the board level. The board asked for an update on it, which we provided, and the outcome of that is the board are very supportive of Ash in the role as she was appointed to the vice-captaincy, [there's] huge and high regard for Ash," Greenberg told reporters in Darwin.
Greenberg also revealed that CA was aware of the relationship between Gardner and Voll before it became public. He added that Gardner's situation prompted CA to update its Respect at Work policy regarding players in relationships holding leadership roles.
"We've got a Respect at Work policy, which we've now put some additional measures in place. Because we want to make sure that either the perception or the real conflict of selections, even though the vice-captain doesn't have a say in selections in the team, the leadership role and the influence that person might have to put guard rails in about how the policy works. Outside of that, we've deemed it a personal matter," he added.
Greenberg insisted that while Gardner, as vice-captain, has no say in selection matters, she will have to refrain from having any conversations with the player or selectors regarding Voll's selection in the XI or the squad, or any other factor that could lead to a potential conflict of interest.
"That's right," Greenberg said. "And we think that's important. Even if there's not a conflict, even if there's a perceived level of conflict, not just from the outside, but from other team-mates or from staff.
"We're in some difficult territory here because, like all sports, we're all learning a little bit about how these high-performance environments can operate. So we want to be making sure that our policies are keeping up with the realities, and I think that's exactly what we've done. The board was super supportive of Ash and have been since the start."
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