World class cricket, world class retailing...

James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, kindly invited me to talk to the senior members of this august sporting establishment. Headquartered next door to the MCG in Melbourne, I was honoured to address the main executive including the various regional bosses on the finer points of 'being chosen' by the famously passionate Australian sporting public. James kindly dropped me a note which included:

"Martin Butler's presentation really set the platform for our two-day conference....it was pleasing to receive positive feedback about his content and to hear the participant’s reference examples he'd raised....we know we need to find new ways to capitalise on being unique and different and to master the 'art of being chosen' in everything we do...we all gained a fresh insight from the world of retail and thank Martin for his time in connecting with Australian cricket."

I was awarded a fine pair of cuff links for not mentioning the Ashes....I didn't mention an empty display cabinet I thought I'd seen in reception either - that too, would have been churlish!