Denis Rogers

One of the more charismatic and vigorous administrators that Australia has possessed in its cricketing history, Denis Rogers is the current Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB). Born and raised in Hobart, Rogers has enjoyed a keen association with sport in Tasmania over many years but first rose to genuine prominence in the late 1980s when he spearheaded a group advocating a massive restructuring of the Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA). Following the group's success in assuming the reins at the TCA in 1986, Rogers was the guiding force behind the speedy implementation of a number of revolutionary changes. The first was the relocation of the Association's headquarters from the TCA ground on Hobart's Domain to its present home at the Bellerive Oval on the city's eastern shore. In turn, this brought with it new kudos, new sponsors and the attraction of Test status for the ground inside four years. He was also the inspiration behind the growing centralisation of cricket in Tasmania; previously, the state's administrators and resources had been spread across three major centres but Rogers quickly sought to make Hobart the focal point from which the major decisions on state cricket would be made and its finances controlled. Although the imperative for change has been far less notable than in his previous position, he has also overseen a number of significant developments since his appointment to his ACB post in 1995. These have included the establishment of an official probe to explore Australian players' involvement in any instances of international match-fixing; the resolution of a bitter dispute between the Board and the players over wage structures; progress toward generally closer relations with the recently formed Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA); the striking of an annual award for Australia's leading international player (the Allan Border Medal); the renaming of Australia's domestic first class competition to the Pura Milk Cup; and, the granting of Australian assent to Bangladesh's bid for Test status. Given the level of his resolve to institute far-reaching improvements, it should probably be viewed as little coincidence that Australia has assumed the mantle of the dominant team in world cricket and that Tasmania has shaken off the tag of perennial easybeat to become a major force in interstate competition during the periods in which he has presided over their respective administrations. Away from cricket, he is a high ranking public sector official with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. (John Polack, June 2000)