KEY POINTS:
Former New Zealand fast bowler Geoff Allott has made a shock return to cricket - in the newly created role of General Manager of Cricket.
Head office remained tight-lipped on the appointment during the week despite inquiries - saying through a spokesman there was nothing to report
on the coach or cricket manager - but were forced to make an announcement after it was leaked to a newspaper on Friday night.
Yesterday Allott, 36, gave his reasons for leaving a successful career in finance.
"Yeah it was a hard decision to leave," Allott said. "We have a successful business [FACE Finance]... and I think that highlights how serious I am about making a success of this role."
Allott said his was a broad role encompassing high performance, the players, management and coaches and the scale of the job and its potential obviously excite him.
"We have three products now - tests, Twenty20 and one-day cricket - and I believe we have the players and the potential to win world titles."
That optimism will be music to the ears of chief executive Justin Vaughan.
"Geoff will be pulling together our high performance cricket areas, driving world-class performance and ensuring we reach our strategic goals," he said.
Allott is expected to take up the appointment in March.
It is hoped this announcement will help to expedite Vaughan's restructuring of NZC, a process that has been criticised for being drawn-out and a drag on morale at the national body.
Allott played 10 tests and 31 one-day internationals for New Zealand and was just coming into his own as an international bowler when he retired prematurely in 2001, the result of sustaining a sixth stress fracture in his back.
Although he has established a career in the banking and finance industries, Allott never lost touch with the sport. He has been a highly respected mentor for the likes of Shane Bond, providing a sounding board when the injury-prone fast bowler was suffering from stress fractures of his own. He coached senior club cricket and has been on the board of the New Zealand Players' Association.
"I might not have seen as much cricket as I would have liked but I never lost touch with the game," he said.
Allott spent 12 years with ANZ and is a founding shareholder and director of FACE Finance, a subsidiary of South Canterbury Finance.
New Zealand Cricket would have liked to have filled the position a lot earlier but did not feel the initial candidates had the necessary experience for what will be the pivotal role in the national body's new structure.
Major association chief executives Gavin Larsen, from Wellington, and Northern Districts David Cooper were understood to have applied but it was felt they needed more time in their current roles.
Former Rowing New Zealand chief executive Craig Ross, considered the country's outstanding sports administrator until convicted of nine charges of fraud over funding irregularities (convictions that were later overturned), was also thought to have piqued the interest of those at NZC.
It is not known whether there were any Ric Charlesworth-type applications from overseas but it is fair to say that NZC were probably hamstrung to an extent by the timing of the restructure, with few suitable candidates willing to make dramatic career and life changes in a time of economic uncertainty.
That has not stopped dissatisfaction being expressed with the way NZC has handled the process, with former New Zealand captain Ken Rutherford giving Vaughan the biggest sledge of his reign to date.
In a column on sportal.co.nz, Rutherford wrote: "Some months back, NZ Cricket announced that changes would occur within its administration; that a restructuring of sorts would take place. Time has moved on, and still we await developments.
"It seems like the sport of cricket in our fair land has pushed the `pause' button on the remote.
"... While the rumour mill continues to tell stories of unhappiness and low morale at HQ, Vaughan has done nothing to quell the negative speculation."
NZC have always considered the general manager of cricket as their key appointment though, with the belief everything will flow down from there. Allott's appointment should go some way to easing the likes of Rutherford's concerns, with the appointment of Matthew Mott as coach expected to follow soon after.
On the field Allott reached the peak of his career at the 1999 World Cup in England where his 20 wickets were the most for a tournament.
He is also fondly remembered for a world-record 101-minute duck in a drawn test against South Africa at Eden Park in 1999. Coming to the crease at 320-9, chasing South Africa's first innings 621-5 declared, Allott's 77-ball stay allowed Chris Harris to take the total through to 352 before Kallis induced a false shot from him.
