Cricket Australia revised its Respect at Work policy at a board meeting, introducing formal safeguards around selection discussions that involve players in leadership positions who hold personal relationships with other squad members. The change directly concerns Australia women's vice-captain Ashleigh Gardner and her relationship with Georgia Voll.
Under the revised framework, Gardner must step back from any discussions relating to Voll's selection. That obligation covers conversations with national selectors as well as with Australia women's captain Sophie Molineux. The CA board confirmed Gardner will retain her vice-captaincy alongside Tahlia McGrath, a position the board said it fully supports.
"The board asked for an update on it, which we provided, and the outcome of that is the board are very supportive of Ash in the role as she was appointed to the vice-captaincy, [there's] huge and high regard for Ash. “We've got a Respect at Work policy, [to] which we've now put some additional measures in place. Because we want to make sure that either the perception or the real conflict of selections – even though the vice-captain doesn't have a say in selections in the team – the leadership role and the influence that person might have to put guard rails in about how the policy works. Outside of that, we've deemed it a personal matter," chief executive Todd Greenberg said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
CA had knowledge of Gardner's relationship with Voll before it entered the public domain. Gardner's wife Monica Wright subsequently criticised the governing body for not publicly clarifying Gardner's leadership status once the relationship and the breakdown of their marriage became known. Gardner herself spoke on August 13, 2026, acknowledging that her position within the leadership group made a formal CA response necessary.
Why do the safeguards cover perceived conflicts, not just proven ones?
Greenberg made clear that the recusal requirement is not contingent on an actual conflict of interest being established. The policy is framed to address situations where a conflict may only be perceived, whether by people outside the team, by fellow squad members or by support staff operating within the high-performance environment.
"That's right. And we think that's important. Even if there's not a conflict, even if there's a perceived level of conflict, not just from the outside, but from other team-mates or from staff. We're in some difficult territory here because, like all sports, we're all learning a little bit about how these high-performance environments can operate. So we want to be making sure that our policies are keeping up with the realities, and I think that's exactly what we've done," Greenberg said.
CA's position is that governance frameworks in elite sport must account for perception as well as fact, and the updated policy reflects that principle. The board has characterised the personal dimensions of the situation as outside its remit, with the policy amendments confined to the governance of selection-related discussions.
Did the Voll situation influence the captaincy appointment?
Greenberg also responded to questions about whether the circumstances surrounding Gardner's relationship with Voll played any part in CA's decision to appoint Molineux as Australia women's captain earlier in 2026. He clarified that the situation had no bearing on that appointment.
The board's confirmed position is that the updated Respect at Work policy represents a procedural governance adjustment and carries no disciplinary character. Gardner's vice-captaincy stands, and CA has drawn a clear line between the policy changes, which address selection governance, and the personal circumstances it regards as a private matter.