Sydney, Jun 18 (IANS): Former England captain Andrew Strauss has emerged as a surprise candidate to become the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Cricket Australia following the resignation of Kevin Roberts.

On Tuesday, CA appointed Nick Hockley as its interim Chief Executive following the resignation of Roberts. Hockley is currently the Chief Executive of the ICC T20 World Cup and also oversaw the conduct of the women's edition of the tournament earlier this year.

Roberts had been facing severe criticism for his handling of the shutdown since a decision to furlough about 80 per cent of staff at head office in April amid the COVID-19 crisis.

However, according to a report in ‘The Australian', an influential figure in Cricket Australia has asked 43-year-old Strauss, who had served as England Cricket director between 2015 to 2018, to apply for the post.

But, Strauss leading Australian cricket is likely to lead to a mix of confused emotions, given he led England to Ashes wins during his captaincy.

Chairman Earl Eddings had already said that Cricket Australia would conduct an international search for a new chief executive to lead the organisation as cricket prepares to spring back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strauss played 100 Tests for England in which he scored 7,037 runs at an average of 40.91.