Henderson Has Made The Decision To Resign As California’s Chief, and Baird Will Take His Place The Following Year

Mike Baird, a former premier of New South Wales, will succeed Lachlan Henderson as chairman of Cricket Australia. Henderson’s decision to step down was announced on Sunday and he cited “work responsibilities” as his reason.

Henderson stated that he is unable to give the top job his full attention due to his recent appointment as CEO of HBF in Perth, which is an insurance company that provides medical coverage.

According to cricket.com.au, Henderson expressed his decision to step down from his position as Chair by saying, “The new post I’ve taken in my home city Perth will make it impossible to dedicate the time required as Chair, so I have decided that this is the best moment to give on the role.”

In February of this year, following Earl Eddings’ departure from his position as interim chair, Henderson took over leadership of the organisation from Richard Freudenstein.

Current Board member Baird has been given the unequivocal support of his fellow CA directors and state chairs to take on the responsibilities of chair in February, making him the fourth chair in less than 18 months.

Baird, who is now 54 years old and served as the Premier of New South Wales from 2014 to 2017, became a member of the CA board in 2020.

Next year will bring a number of obstacles for Baird, including the negotiation of a new TV rights deal and a financial agreement with players.

“I’m thrilled that Lachlan Henderson will continue to bring his tremendous business and cricket skills on the CA Board,” he said. “Lachlan Henderson has made a great contribution as Chair, and I couldn’t be happier,” he said.

“It is an honour to take on such a significant role in Australian cricket at a time when there is so much exciting work being done to build and advance our national sport.

“I couldn’t be happier to have the opportunity to work even more closely with CEO Nick Hockley, his team, and everyone else who is working across Australian cricket,”

The announcement made by Henderson comes just a few days after David Warner made the choice to discontinue his effort to appeal the leadership ban he had been given.

During his brief time in office, Henderson was responsible for a number of significant advancements, including the promotion of Andrew McDonald to the position of chief coach for Australia when Justin Langer was fired in an abrupt manner.