Christina Matthews

Christina Matthews's Biography

Christina Matthews is 2022 Sports Administrator of the Year, Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) and a former Australian cricketer.

She is Australia’s most capped female Test player and holds the record for the most dismissals in Test cricket by an Australian wicketkeeper. Christina is the only woman in Australia to hold the position of CEO of a State Cricket Association.

Christina is a well-respected voice within the Australian cricket community, with strong leadership qualities and 35 years’ experience in various management, coaching and development roles within cricket, hockey and Australian Rules football.

Having represented Victoria, ACT and NSW during her playing career and a member of the Australian women’s team from 1984 to 1995, including two years as Vice Captain, Christina is able to combine her in-depth knowledge and experience in sport with her vast business expertise.

Christina has proven herself to be an effective and courageous leader since taking on the role of CEO at the WACA in 2012.  She has redefined the way the WACA approaches its business, introducing a strong strategic focus, commitment to community engagement, restructuring to ensure resourcing aligns with the Associations’ strategic objectives, and managing change to ensure a successful future for the organisation including moving commercial cricket from the WACA ground to Optus Stadium and the current WACA Ground Improvement Program.  Her focus has also included increasing philanthropic endeavours to drive greater diversity and inclusion within the game and partnership development, both within the sports industry and in other complementary businesses, to expand the WACA’s reach.

Christina has led WA cricket through a decade of constant evolution which continues to bring with it a number of exciting opportunities. This includes the successful transition to Optus Stadium, building the capacity of the business and ensuring staff and WA Cricket’s many stakeholders are involved in the journey.  With the WACA Ground Improvement Project she is positioning the WACA Ground as a complementary stadium to Optus Stadium as well as creating a community and sporting hub with cricket at its heart. This will ensure the business’ sustainability, provide much improved facilities for players, members and fans as well as much needed community facilities within the City of Perth.

A significant contributor to the development of cricket, she has spent many years supporting community cricket associations and is a Life Member of the Sydney Cricket Association and the Sydney Cricket Club (formerly Balmain), Honorary Life Member of MCC (Lord’s) and the Melbourne Cricket Club and is a former member of the Board of the Bradman Foundation.

Christina’s focus is not solely on cricket, also sitting on the Murdoch University Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Advisory Board, CEO’s for Gender Equity Board, Youth Focus board, the Board of Leadership WA and is the Convenor for the Champions for Change National 2021 Group (mining and construction). In addition to this Christina is also the WA Chapter Lead for the Minerva Network which is a pro bono mentoring program for elite female athletes. Christina was also named the 2022 WA Sports Administrator of the Year and was selected in 2022 as one of WA’s 500 most influential individuals.

Christina previously held the position of Chair of Selectors for the Australian Women’s Cricket Team and has mentored young sports women aiming to move into elite sport. Her compassion and understanding have driven a supportive culture and work environment, with a focus on wellbeing and encouraging staff to reach their potential both personally and professionally.

Outside of work, Christina loves to travel and often combines this with her passion for cycling. Her favourite destination is New York and she has completed several cycling trips in Europe.

Speaking Topics Include

Christina is a naturally charismatic speaker who draws on the potent parallels between business and sport in a range of presentations incorporating:

Leadership

Diversity

Change Management

Risk Management

Overcoming obstacles

Teamwork

Goal setting

 

Christina can also tailor her presentation to suit a client’s needs