Table of Contents:

Executive Summary 4

Introduction 5

Findings 6

Discussion 7

Recommendations 9

Conclusion 9

References 11

1
Executive Summary:

The following report discusses the one-way communication process which the
organisation in question, Cricket Australia used whilst communicating to their various
stakeholders. Through the report it is found that Cricket Australia proved ineffective
with their communication. This was due to a lack of professionalism and ethical
consideration in the organisation’s verbal and non-verbal communication. This
conclusion was drawn from looking at the events that took place between the 16th of
February and 28th of March whilst playing against South Africa.

The culture surrounding Cricket Australia had a strong effect on how the ball-
tampering case was communicated to the public. Their ‘winning at whatever cost’
mentality clouded the judgement and communication behind the organisation’s
message to the public. Cricket Australia demonstrated that they were a high context
culture with members of the leadership group taking full responsibility, despite not
being directly involved in the incident.

Cricket Australia utilised media conferences as their main communication channel in

an attempt to effectively communicate with their various stakeholders. However, they
were unsuccessful in their communication efforts, as they were unable to recognise
that depending on the level of power a stakeholder has with the organisation, the
communication process needs to alter. For certain stakeholders such as players and
sponsors, the organisation needs to understand that a two-way communication
process is required.

It is recommended that in the future Cricket Australia re-evaluates the culture that
surrounds their organisation, and they focus on communicating in a more
professional and ethical manner. Depending on the stakeholders the organisation is
communicating with, they will need to adjust their communication process to allow for
two-way communication, which was not seen during this case.

2
Introduction:

Communication is a process, which when used successfully, by an organisation

assists in achieving the organisation’s outcome and helps to develop their
relationships with those on the receiving end (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015). The
utilisation of mass and public communication allows organisations, such as Cricket
Australia, to convey their message to many receivers including their staff,
stakeholders and members of the public (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015).

The process of communication follows a series of steps. It begins with the sender
encoding the initial message and sending it to the receiver. Once the message has
been received feedback occurs, which is the receiver’s response to the initial
message sent (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015). Not only does the context surrounding the
message, as well as the channel in which the message is sent through affects how
one interprets the message, it is also the noise and interference which can lead to a
misunderstanding in the decoding of the message (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015).

Cricket Australia expects their employees, including both players and coaches, to
communicate and behave in a professional and ethical manner. They expect this as
it is important for organisations to behave this way for there to be effective two-way
communication (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015). It is also necessary for organisations to
communicate in ways which are in the interest of their various stakeholders (Dwyer &
Hopwood, 2015), such as their sponsors and spectators.

The communication process Cricket Australia followed whilst this scandal unfolded
will be looked at, as well as the culture which surrounds the organisation and how it
may have impacted the communication process which they used. The way in which
Cricket Australia communicated to their stakeholders of the issue at hand will be
discussed. Recommendations will also be made to improve their future
communication process.

3
Findings:

The main incident which caused Cricket Australia to communicate to a public mass
audience was when their employee, Cameron Bancroft was caught tampering with
the game ball (The Guardian, 2018). This incident made it necessary for the
organisation to then communicate to their various stakeholders, the media and both
the Australian and South African public.

The communication process that was enforced by Cricket Australia follows the model
of communication by Shannon and Weaver (1949, as cited in Dwyer & Hopwood,
2015). Their model shows that communication moves one-way, whilst
acknowledging that noise and interference can create barriers with the
communication (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015). This is similar to the model created by
Laswell (1948, as cited in Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015) which also portrays
communication as one-way, but it does not acknowledge the impact that noise and
interference has on the message.

The crisis in which Cricket Australia faced throughout the entirety of the test matches
played against South Africa, were filled with communication barriers which occurred
due to noise and interference. This noise and interference were expressed through
the multiple incidents which occurred before the ball-tampering. These incidents
included an intense argument which occurred between David Warner, Australian
vice-captain, and Quinton de Kock, South African wicketkeeper (The Guardian,
2018). As well as when Kasigo Rabada supposedly collided with Australian captain,
Steve Smith (The Guardian, 2018). Incidents like those that occurred before the ball-
tampering incident, interfered with how the receivers, in this case, the media and
public, interpreted the following events and how the organisation was to handle the
controversy.

Throughout the test matches, each time a new incident occurred many unsuitable
channels were used by the cricket players, both those who were directly and
indirectly in the situations. Unsuitable communication channels were used when
Cricket Australia allowed their players to speak openly and freely to the media after
each of the incidents. There are many instances where ineffective communication
was involved in Cricket Australia’s communication process. Such as when Smith
expressed his confusion and infuriation at not being asked to give a statement at a

4
hearing involving himself and Rabada (Collins, 2018). The message sent so freely by
the sender, Smith shows the lack of professionalism or ethical consideration behind
his message, proving ineffective communication.

Discussion:

The culture surrounding Cricket Australia and how it could have affected the way the
incidents were communicated to the public has now come into question. An
organisation like Cricket Australia and the national team is an example of a social
institution. Social institutions like the Australian cricket team help members within it
form an idea of how they are to conduct themselves and what is seen as acceptable
behaviour (Dwyer & Hopwood, 2015). These norms vary from one social institution
to another and the context of their culture.

High context cultures demonstrate a clear hierarchy and cohesiveness throughout

their communication (Nevgi, Nishimura, & Tella, 2008). This is seen in Cricket
Australia’s culture through their leadership groups and membership being a
requirement. A team such as the Australian cricket team has strong group values
and members within the leadership group have a strong duty to their organisation.
The high context culture is demonstrated with Smith’s communication to the public
that despite not directly tampering with the ball, the fact that he as captain had
knowledge there was a plan to do so, accepted responsibility for the actions of his
teammates (Ferris, 2018).

As an organisation Cricket Australia states that one of their values is to “play hard
and play fair” (The Ethics Centre [TEC], 2018, p. 18). However, this value is
contradictory to the ‘win at all costs mentality’ that many stakeholders see within the
organisation (TEC, 2018). This mentality is deeply instilled in the culture of Cricket
Australia as many individuals believe that it has made team members and members
of the leadership group observe “certain forms of cheating as merely ‘playing hard to
win’” (TEC, 2018, p. 41). The culture of giving new meaning to different ways of
cheating, so it is not considered cheating, affects the context surrounding the
message of the ball-tampering scandal. This is because the lack of sincerity and

5
their unethical behaviour does not allow for effective communication from the
organisation to the public.

The use of media conferences was crucial to the way Cricket Australia
communicated to their stakeholders about the situation. Stakeholders of Cricket
Australia are not just limited to the players and spectators, but it also includes their
sponsors and the media. Depending on the level of influence stakeholders have on
the organisation, the level of communication needed varies (Waśkowski, n.d).
Despite Smith’s and Bancroft’s involvement, the message they communicated
through to the media at the end of day’s play, should not have been allowed. It did
not allow for effective communication, as stakeholders want the message
communicated to be straight forward and in line with other communications. (Girsky,
2014). The players’ communication of the message lacked understanding as they
were unaware of the entirety of the situation (N2N Communications [N2N], n.d) when
first speaking to the public. Warner’s media conference lacked the authenticity and
professionalism required for it to be an effective communication channel. Throughout
his conference he chose to not answer questions (Cameron, 2018) which would
have helped various stakeholders, such as his sponsor, LG who may have then
allowed his partnership with the brand to continue (The Guardian, 2018).

Cricket Australia’s use of media conferences were only an effective communication

channel when communicating with certain stakeholders such as spectators and the
media. This is because those stakeholders have lower power and either low or high
interest. Therefore, these stakeholders should be continually made aware of the
evolving situation through mass communication channels (Waśkowski, n.d).
However, players have an extremely high power and interest in Cricket Australia and
communication channels should be kept open and the organisation should have a
close relationship with them (Waśkowski, n.d). This close relationship should also be
reflected through the communication channels shared with sponsors, as they have a
high power over their partnerships which could prove detrimental to the organisation
(Waśkowski, n.d). This was not the case, however, as Cricket Australia used mass
communication through media conferences as the only form of communication to
their various stakeholders. This proved detrimental to their players and sponsors, as
three players were stood down for a period of twelve months (The Guardian, 2018),
and a partnership between electronics brand LG and Warner, was severed.

6
Recommendations:

It is important for Cricket Australia to be able to refer to this incident and see how
they should have approached their communication process in a more professional
and ethical manner. This will allow them to have effective two-way communication
with their multiple stakeholders in future instances.

For this to occur the organisation will need to re-evaluate their culture and their ‘win
at all cost’ mentality. A more effective communication process should be considered,
one which looks at communication as a two-way process. At least when
communicating with important stakeholders such as players and sponsors. Media
conferences should be a communication channel only used for lower power
stakeholders.

Communication to the mass public should not be made by players, unless a formal
statement from the organisation itself has been made, or all the facts have been
made clear to those speaking to the public. Whilst Cricket Australia re-evaluates their
culture extra emphasis on their values should be that all organisational members
conduct themselves and their communication in a professional and ethical manner.
Placing a focus on members of the organisation behaving and communicating in a
professional, ethical and respectful manner will be of great benefit as there will be
significantly more effective communication occurring between the organisation and
their stakeholders.

Conclusion:

As an organisation Cricket Australia currently follows the Shannon and Weaver

model of communication, stating that communication goes in one direction. However,
for the organisation to communicate more effectively in the future it is important for
them to acknowledge that depending on who they are communicating with, their
communication process needs to be adjusted to allow for effective two-way
communication. The poor culture within Cricket Australia impacted how the situation
was communicated with the public as there were large amounts of noise and
interference and a lack of professionalism and ethical consideration in both their
verbal and non-verbal communication. This caused breakdowns in the line of
communication with many of their stakeholders.

7
References:

Collins, A. (2018). ‘Pretty Interesting’: Steve Smith Hits Out at Kasigo Rabada

Appeal Process. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/

mar/21/pretty-interesting-steve-smith-hits-out-at-kasigo-rabada-process

Dwyer, J., & Hopwood, N. (2015). Communication for Business and the Professions:

Strategies and Skills (6th ed.). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-

com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au

Ferris, S. (2018). Emotional Smith Breaks Down in Press Conference. Retrieved

from https://www.cricket.com.au/news/steve-smith-press-conference-ball-

tampering-scandal-speaks-regret-bancroft-warner/2018-03-29

Girsky, S. (2014). Many Stakeholders, One Story. Retrieved from

https://lms.monash.edu/pluginfile.php/10401382/mod_resource/content/1/Rea
d2.week1.MGF1100.pdf

Nevgi, A., Nishimura, S., & Tella, S. (2008). Communication Style and Cultural

Features in High/Low Context Communication Cultures: A Case Study of

Finland, Japan and India. Retrieved from

https://people.uwec.edu/degravjr/GEOG-
ANTH%20351/Articles/NishimuraNevgiTella-highcontextlowcontext.pdf

8
N2N Communications. (n.d). Howzat!? What We Can Learn from the Cricket Crisis.

Retrieved from http://www.n2n.com.au/general/howzat-what-we-can-learn-

from-the-cricket-crisis/

The Ethics Centre. (2018). Australian Cricket A Matter of Balance. Retrieved from

https://www.cricketaustralia.com.au/the-ethics-centre-organisational-review-
players-pact

The Guardian. (2018). David Warner Steps Down from IPL Captaincy and Loses LG

Deal. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/mar/28/

electronics-giant-lg-drops-david-warner-as-brand-ambassador

The Guardian. (2018). How Australian Cricket Imploded – A Timeline of Events in

South Africa. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/mar/28/

how-australian-cricket-imploded-a-timeline-of-events-in-south-africa

Waśkowski, Z. (n.d). Collaboration with Stakeholders in Sports Business Industry:

Strategies of Marathons Organizers. Retrieved from https://www.impgroup.org

/uploads/papers/8572.pdf