NZ Cricket CEO Scott Weenink is understood to be entering mediation over his job. Photo / Alan Lee
By RNZ
NZ Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink has stood down from day-to-day duties at the national body amid an ongoing fight for his survival.
RNZ understands Weenink went on leave as of 5pm on Friday before mediation with the NZ Cricket board over his future.
It is understood Paul Wicks KC is advising the board on the process ahead, including the possibility of negotiating an exit agreement with Weenink.
In a statement, NZC’s manager of public affairs Richard Boock denied the national body had started an employment process with Weenink.
“He’s taken some time off to be with his family at the start of the school holidays,” Boock said.
Boock added an agreed date for return had been set for December 19.
However, sources say Weenink offered to go on leave as his position at NZC has become increasingly untenable as he has been sidelined from attending key events.
“He basically exists in a state of purgatory right now,” said one insider.
Weenink’s sudden absence marks a dramatic escalation in a battle that has been brewing over several months.
RNZ last month reported Weenink was “fighting for his survival” amid a power struggle over the future of the domestic game.
Weenink faced allegations of working to “actively undermine” a bid by a private consortium to establish a new T20 franchise competition – a proposal supported by all six major associations and the NZ Cricket Players’ Association (NZCPA).
However, several senior cricket figures told RNZ while a proposed private Twenty20 franchise league has been a flashpoint for tensions, the crisis runs far deeper.
According to one source, concern around Weenink’s leadership has been simmering for several months, culminating in a letter sent to the NZ Cricket board on October 16 following a series of meetings between the six major associations.
In that letter, the major association chairs warned the board that the relationship with the CEO had become “irretrievable”, stating the network had lost “respect, trust and confidence” in Weenink.
The source said concerns about Weenink were also raised directly with the NZ Cricket board chair Diana Puketapu-Lyndon and later by follow-up letter in July – well before the concept of NZ20 was first pitched to the national body.
It is understood the major associations have obtained independent legal representation from high-profile employment lawyer Stephen Langton, who has gone through a process of formally documenting the concerns of each of the regions.
Asked about the issues raised by the major associations over a period of several months, Boock responded: “NZC wouldn’t comment on that type of speculation.”
While the major associations and NZCPA are keen to divorce the NZ20 from the conversation over Weenink’s leadership, there is a feeling among some in the cricket community that his lack of support for the concept has led to a “campaign to see the CEO removed”.
Last week, a group of four NZC life members wrote to the board chairs and directors of the national body, each of the major associations, the NZCPA and the NZ20 establishment committee to express their “dismay” at the damage caused to cricket’s reputation and leadership of the game as a result of the “growing dysfunction within New Zealand’s cricket family”.
“Currently it appears that the focus on NZ20, and other T20 opportunities, has been somewhat sidelined, as the dysfunction within the NZC board, NZC’s troubles with the MAs and with the NZCPA, and a campaign to see the NZC CEO removed, is publicly laid bare day after day,” said the letter, signed by Sir Richard Hadlee, Lesley Murdoch, Stephen Boock and Martin Snedden.
“We are deeply saddened by and worried about the resulting damage already impacting cricket’s reputation.
“We urge all those involved to stop ‘playing the man’ and, instead, focus solely on ‘playing the ball’.”