Cricket Australia elects Jack Clarke as chairman

Jack Clarke has been elected as the new chairman of Cricket Australia following the retirement of Creagh O'Connor, who held the position for three years. Clarke, a solicitor from South Australia, was appointed at Cricket Australia's annual general meeting in Melbourne.

A director of Cricket Australia since 1999, Clarke was made deputy chairman last year and his accession to the top job was a formality. A former player for Glenelg in Adelaide's club cricket, Clarke has sat on the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) board for 21 years.

O'Connor, who like Clarke is on the SACA board, has resigned not only from the chairmanship but from the board itself. In his parting address, O'Connor said the major issue for Cricket Australia and the state organisations in the next few years would be striking the right balance between investing in grassroots cricket and at the elite level.

Clarke said O'Connor would be remembered for outstanding service to Australian cricket. "In particular," Clarke said, "Creagh has won the respect of the global cricket community for his measured diplomacy at a time of complex international issues which have been managed on a culturally diverse world stage."