Cricket Australia Confirms New Executive Appointments

Cricket Australia has announced changes to its executive team, including the appointment of Sarah Pragnell as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and James Allsopp to the newly created position of Chief of Cricket.

Sarah Pragnell’s appointment comes after Samantha Douglas’s resignation as CFO and follows a highly competitive selection process. With nearly 20 years of experience in investment banking, corporate advisory, and FMCG, Pragnell will join from the H&H Group (Swisse Wellness), where she served as the ANZ/Asia Regional CFO & Group Corporate Finance Director. Her background includes roles at Macquarie Capital, Lion Capital Advisory, and Medibank Private, and she holds a Masters of Finance from INSEAD. Additionally, Pragnell has represented Australia in rowing.

James Allsopp, previously the Executive General Manager of Community Cricket and Capability at CA, has been appointed as the Chief of Cricket. This new role will oversee all cricket functions, including community cricket, talent pathway programs, high performance, and national teams. Allsopp’s extensive experience includes serving as Chief Executive of Cricket ACT and playing as captain of Bankstown First XI in Sydney Premier Cricket and as a member of the NSW Second XI and Under-19 teams.

Ben Oliver will continue as EGM National Teams and remain a member of the CA Executive team. Oliver’s tenure has seen significant successes for Australian cricket, including victories in the ICC Men’s Test World Championship, ODI World Cup, Women’s T20 and ODI World Cups, and retention of both the Men’s and Women’s Ashes. This structural change aims to allow Oliver to focus more on the performance of Australia’s world champion teams amidst increasing global cricket complexities.

Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO, praised the appointments, highlighting Pragnell’s commercial finance expertise and Allsopp’s comprehensive experience in cricket. Hockley expressed confidence that these changes would benefit cricket at all levels, especially with the upcoming five-Test NRMA Insurance Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the CommBank Women’s Ashes series, as well as the excitement of the Big Bash Leagues, all expected to drive growth in junior participation programs and competitions across the country.