Geale was elected as the inaugural chairperson of the new Cricket Wagga Wagga board this week.

He is one of five new faces on the board, as the sport looks to embark on a new era.

Geale admits his background in cricket is limited to watching his son and grandsons play the game, hoping instead his background in governance at Wagga City Council can help the new board.

Geale is retired after a distinguished career with Wagga City Council, which included five years as a councillor and 20 years as director of sport and recreation.

He was approached to nominate for the new board and now finds himself as the newly-elected chairman after Monday night's first meeting.

"It's good. It's not really something I was anticipating I don't think but it will be a good challenge," Geale said.

"It will be interesting to see how it all goes."

Geale conceded his background is in facilities more than the game itself. But he also revealed his bewilderment in losing last year's Sheffield Shield game in Wagga as a driving factor behind his decision.

"The other thing that got me was the game being cancelled. Being apart of Council for so many years, that really bugged me," he said.

"Other sports are bringing teams here and there are so many things happening so to see the Shield game cancelled, and I don't know what actually happened, but that bugged me.

"The sport really needs to promote itself and get going."

The new board has wasted no time in making decisions and have changed the name from Wagga Wagga District Cricket Association to Cricket Wagga Wagga. A new logo is also in the works.

It will also begin looking for a new operations manager after Mel Rosengren stood down after four years in the position.

Brenton Crawford was elected vice-chairperson.

Eric Koetz will look after the senior cricket portfolio and Brett Dohl remains with junior cricket.

Peter King has been allocated finance, Jeremy Neumann has governance, Luke Olsen has media and marketing, Crawford has sponsorship and Geale has local government relations.

Geale, Wagga's 2015 Citizen of the Year, believes the future is bright for cricket.

"I think the fact they've gone and developed a five-year plan, introduced a new board to revamp things is very positive," he said.

"Wagga has so many sports so we have to promote ourselves more and be better at it."

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