DR Simon Longstaff, the man behind the cultural review into Australian cricket, has been appointed as an independent ethics commissioner by Cricket Australia (CA).

In the new role, Dr Longstaff will have “direct access” to the CA chair and board to advise on ethical matters for the organisation. This will include, but is not limited to matters of administration, governance, transparency and on or off-field behaviour.

As Executive Director of The Ethics Centre, Longstaff led the independent organisational review into Australian cricket in 2018 in the wake of the Cape Town scandal, producing a 145-page document that contained 42 recommendations.

The first recommendation of Longstaff’s review was for CA to set up an ethics commission to hold administrators, players and staff accountable to the “ethical foundations for the game as played in Australia”.

CA, in its response to the review in October 2018, said it supported the recommendation and would appoint an independent ethics commissioner with direct access to the chair and board.

CA confirmed Longstaff in the role on Tuesday, saying his “pivotal involvement” in the review made him an ideal candidate.

CA chair Dr Lachlan Henderson said the creation of the role and the appointment were “significant steps for Australian cricket”.

“Not only have we embraced the key recommendations of The Ethics Centre Review, this initiative will help to ensure the best process to review ethical issues in cricket that might arise in the future.

“The CA Board and our State and Territory colleagues are committed to improving governance structures in cricket and the Ethics Commissioner will provide a vital reference point for issues that impact CA and the game more broadly.

“Having led the 2018 review, Dr Longstaff has a detailed understanding of the challenges the game has faced and the progress that has been made in recent times. We look forward to working with him for the betterment of cricket. (Cricket.com.au)