Brendon Gibson Elected New Auckland Cricket Chair | Three New Directors

Last Wednesday, Auckland Cricket conducted the Annual General Meeting for 2021. It would be a historic occasion, with lockdown restrictions forcing it to be the Association's first AGM held online.

The Board Selection Panel nominated five people to be Directors of Auckland Cricket: incumbents Nicholas Albrecht, Marijana Brajkovich and newly elected Directors Craig Pryor, Kelly Baxter-Rae and Bevan Miles, joining Brendon Gibson and Sacha Cowlrick on the seven-member Board.

On the night, Albrecht, who was elected Chair in 2019, announced that he would step down from the role.

“It has been an honour and privilege to serve as the ACA chair over the last two years."

"I look forward to now contributing as an Auckland Cricket and Eden Park Trust board member as we implement our strategic plan.”

This week, Brendon Gibson was elected Auckland Cricket's new Chair.

“As new Chair, I am looking forward to working with the Board, the management team and the wider cricket community in working through the issues faced with COVID-19 and trying to get some cricket played in a safe environment.”

"The Board is focused on delivering on the strategic plan, developed last year.

"We are excited to start solving how we create a home for cricket in Auckland together, as we can see how we can continue to develop and grow our potential as a sport that represents all of Auckland. We are going to be trying to do this by leaning in and doing things differently.

Gibson, who enters his second year on the Board, is also delighted to welcome the three new Directors.

"I am also looking forward to our new members - Craig, Bevan and Kelly - coming to the board table, bringing a fresh outlook and their own club/cricket perspectives and experiences as we work together in the interests of Auckland Cricket.

"On behalf of the Board and Auckland Cricket, we would like to thank Nick for his time and commitment as Chair over the past three years, in particular leading the strategic planning process which is a great blueprint for Auckland Cricket to move forward with."

Profiles of newly elected Directors below:

Kelly Baxter-Rae

Kelly has spent the past three years working with the Parnell Cricket Board and has also been a trustee with the Spark Foundation since 2018, the charitable organisation for Spark New Zealand.

Kelly also plays an integral role within Spark’s Legal Team supporting key initiatives, including major commercial and M & A transactions, engagement with Spark’s main regulators, risk management, litigation, marketing and consumer matters and the launch of Spark’s Spark Sport online streaming business.

Notably, Kelly has been central to delivering partnerships with major sporting bodies, including World Rugby for Rugby World Cup 2019, Formula 1, English Premier League and a 6-year transformational partnership with New Zealand Cricket.

Kelly is passionate about sport in the community, particularly cricket, having developed a strong affinity for the game over the past decade through her husband. Significantly, Kelly brings a non-player perspective, representing Auckland Cricket’s wider membership of friends, family, supporters and volunteers who are all critical to the success of the game.

Having completed a Bachelor Laws with Honours from the University of Auckland, Kelly spent the first four years of her legal career with Russell McVeagh before relocating to the UK.

Prior to returning to NZ in 2017, Kelly was a member of the Tesco Legal Team and also completed a course of post-graduate study at Oxford University. In 2019, Kelly was a finalist for NZ Young Lawyer of Year and was named as one of NZ Lawyer’s Rising Stars in 2020.

Bevan Miles

Bevan is a partner at Chapman Tripp, one of New Zealand’s leading commercial law firms.

Bevan leads the firm’s consulting advisory service and its national tax practice working with large national and international clients. Bevan joined Chapman Tripp from ASB, where he led the group tax function.

A keen club cricketer before family life took over, more recently a broken body put pay to a brief return to president’s grade cricket. Bevan has been a board member of East Coast Bays Cricket for three and a half years and, until recently, Junior Chair. He is also a board member of Windsor Park Community and Multisport Hub Incorporated, which owns and manages ECB’s home ground.

Bevan has coached junior cricket for around eight years, most recently an incredibly rewarding first season coaching his daughter’s team.

Bevan is a member of the Institute of Directors, chair of the Oceania Football Confederation Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the board of trustees of Harbour Sport. Bevan was previously a trustee of the New Zealand Professional Women’s Golfers Trust (a charity established to assist up-and-coming golfers).

Craig Pryor (co-opted to the Board in March 2021)

Of Ngati Awa and Ngati Pikiao descent, Craig played representative age-group cricket for Auckland and New Zealand, debuting for the ACES in 1998.

Craig retired from first-class cricket in 2003, having spent two seasons playing for Otago. He is currently Dealer Principal at Winger Maserati, having worked in the motor industry for 20 years, starting with Mercedes Benz, and managing successful brands such as Porsche, BMW and Ferrari.

Passionate about cricket at all levels, Craig has been not only been a representative player, but also a Premier umpire and is actively involved with junior cricket with his son.

Craig is looking forward to being involved in an exciting growth period for the sport in the greater Auckland area and working with all stakeholders.

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