Ex-Pacer Geoff Allott Takes Charge as New Zealand Cricket CEO

New Zealand Cricket confirmed on April 28, 2026, that former Black Caps fast bowler Geoff Allott has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026.

 Allott becomes the sixth chief executive in NZC’s history, stepping into a role that has been vacant since Scott Weenink resigned in December 2025. 

Why the Role Became Available

Scott Weenink had been in the position for just over two years when he resigned in December 2025, citing a fundamental difference of opinion with several Member Associations and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association over the future direction of the game, specifically, the long-term role of T20 cricket within NZC’s domestic structure. 

The resignation followed months of escalating disagreement over the board’s plans for a new domestic T20 league format. Since his departure, NZC’s chief venues and events officer, Graham Parks, and general manager of cricket operations, Catherine Campbell, have shared interim CEO responsibilities while the board ran its search.

Three names emerged as candidates: Allott, his former Black Caps captain Lee Germon, who had served as Canterbury Cricket CEO and later ran New South Wales Cricket, and Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle. Germon withdrew from the process, and Castle was reappointed to lead Sport NZ through to May 2030, leaving Allott as the sole remaining candidate ahead of the formal announcement.

Allott’s Path From Player to the Top Office

Allott’s playing career ran from 1996 to 2000. A left-arm swing bowler, he played 10 Tests and 31 ODIs for New Zealand before back injuries brought his time in the national side to an end. His most notable moment in international cricket came at the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he finished as the joint-leading wicket-taker alongside Shane Warne, a run that cemented his reputation as one of New Zealand’s more effective pace options of that era.

After retiring, his involvement with cricket did not stop. He was among the founding board members of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association in 2002. 

From 2008 to 2010, he served as NZC’s General Manager of Cricket. He then joined the NZC board in 2013 and served as a director for eight years before stepping down in 2021. NZC awarded him Life Membership the following year. 

Outside cricket, he has been the executive director of QualityNZ, an export company connecting New Zealand products to the South Asian market, since its founding in 2012, giving him nearly 12 years of direct commercial experience across India and the surrounding region.

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What Allott Brings to the Role

NZC’s chair was direct about why the board selected Allott. His combination of playing experience, institutional knowledge from two separate stints within NZC’s management structure, and commercially relevant ties to South Asia, particularly India, the most significant market in global cricket, was described as precisely what the organisation needed at this point. 

Puketapu-Lyndon said she was confident his playing background, institutional knowledge, business acumen, and international outlook made him exceptionally well placed to lead NZC through its next phase.

Allott also played a supporting role as an NZC director in Sarah Beaman’s 2016 Women and Cricket Report, a document that shaped several of the board’s subsequent policies on the women’s game, and has maintained a public position as an advocate for the growth of women’s and girls’ cricket.

The Context He Steps Into

Allott takes over a board still navigating the T20 question that prompted his predecessor’s exit. NZC’s proposed domestic T20 competition, designed to attract international investment and offer a third pathway alongside its Test and white-ball structures, remains unresolved. The new league was preferred to pursuing entry into Australia’s Big Bash competition, but disagreements over its structure and financial model remain unresolved. 

His three-decade familiarity with NZC’s internal culture, combined with the South Asian commercial relationships he brings from QualityNZ, positions him to manage both the governance dimension and the commercial negotiation that will define the next chapter of New Zealand cricket’s development.

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