WELLINGTON: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will cut up to 15 percent of staff and look to shave NZ$6 million ($3.72 million) in operating costs as part of proposals to cope with ‘challenging’ conditions brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, Chief Executive David White has said.

White told New Zealand media he had informed NZC’s 80 staff on Wednesday about the planned cuts, which would allow the board to maintain funding levels at provincial and district levels, and avoid shrinking the domestic schedule.

“We have our priorities for the year which were not compromising and were investing in those,” he told Stuff Media. “The cuts are coming from NZC, NZ$6 million, of which NZ$1.5 million is staff.”

Players and staff for the national men’s Black Caps and women’s White Ferns teams would not be affected by the cost-cutting measures. Players’ annual retainers would remain as forecast for the coming season, White said.

New Zealand authorities have begun easing social restrictions in recent weeks with Covid-19 cases slowing to a trickle, and sports have been given the green light to restart domestic competitions.

But NZC anticipates a ‘significant reduction’ in revenue in the current financial year, with travel curbs and border controls throwing the international schedule into doubt.

“What we are experiencing is what I imagine most businesses in New Zealand are experiencing at the moment,” White said. “It’s a really challenging situation and we’ve just got to work through it the best we can to ensure NZ Cricket remains strong and viable, and all our members do as well.”

NZC’s proposed cuts come in the wake of several rounds of job losses in Australian cricket in recent weeks.

Queensland’s state association said on Monday it had cut nearly 30 percent of its workforce following announcements of staff cuts in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2020