Updated ,first published
Cricket Australia has sacked a staffer after substantiating whistleblower allegations that the worker, formerly employed by the NRL, commissioned contracts totalling more than $600,000 to a company they were personally associated with.
The employee was investigated after whistleblower complaints were shared anonymously with CA, before eventually finding their way into the media.
“An independent assessment of claims made by an anonymous whistleblower concerning a CA staff member has been completed,” CA said in a statement.
“An allegation of an undeclared conflict of interest during a procurement process has been substantiated. The staff member has now left CA.”
The whistleblower complaints, seen by this masthead, arrived amid a fresh round of redundancies at CA, with about 20 staff departing the organisation in March and April, after around 15 lost their jobs in July last year.
The staffer has also been investigated by the NRL integrity unit in relation to their former employment at rugby league headquarters.
CA had confirmed an independent investigation of the complaints raised by the whistleblower in a statement: “We are aware of the claims and they are currently being independently reviewed.”
The NRL was contacted for comment.
The whistleblower report, first reported by Michael West Media, alleges that in March 2025, the staffer registered a company in NSW and listed themselves as director and shareholder.
Another company was registered in NSW in November 2025. A close associate of the staffer was named as a director. ASIC was informed that this associate resigned as a director and secretary of the initial company on February 16, 2026.
Two days later, on February 18, Cricket Australia made its first purchase order to one of the companies in question. The purchase order as approved by the staffer in question on February 19. The whistleblower alleges that these purchase orders now amount to more than $600,000 in payments.
In related allegations, the whistleblower claims that the staffer was introduced to CA by a senior figure at the organisation, raising questions of due process regarding recruitment, reference checks and screening of prospective employees.
Since then, the whistleblower alleges, two other former NRL staffers have been hired to join CA in the same department overseen by the staffer.
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Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
