Mr Crawford stepped down on Saturday claiming his attempts to force financial transparency onto the organisation had failed and that some board members appeared to be acting out of self-interest.

It was a hammer blow to the credibility of the organisation's leadership, which has stumbled from crisis to crisis in the past five months since banning long-time player Roy Capitao for attempting to shed light on the board's spending.

Secretary Andrew Kelly was also banned, for five years, and fellow new board members Daniel Saunders and Grant Hutchings faced a judiciary panel on Sunday.

Holding Mr Saunders' judiciary hearing in his absence at three o'clock on a Sunday afternoon during the school holidays is not a good look for an organisation already under the microscope.

Mr Kelly, Mr Hutchings and Mr Saunders were elected to office by club representatives in August, the first time in 20 years the management committee had been forced to hold elections.

In light of recent events, those same clubs now need to back up their push for change by organising a special general meeting to dissolve the board.

Regardless of who has done what in the recent and distant past, the association needs to start over with a clean slate at the top.

Mr Crawford pushed for a long-overdue audit of NCSCA finances which recommended changes to the way the board handled members' money.

The board's seemingly punitive treatment of fellow volunteer directors begs the question whether the long-time incumbents are committed to cultural change.

Mr Crawford's resignation could be seen as his answer to that question.

Newcastle Cricket Zone has received legal advice that it can review suspensions handed out by the City and Suburban judiciary but it cannot sack the board.

Likewise, Cricket NSW's Hunter development manager, Neil McDonald, said the state body did not have the jurisdiction to intervene as each association was largely autonomous.

He said he had "never seen" a situation like the one unfolding in Newcastle and urged clubs to intervene.

The casual nature of C&S, a largely social competition populated by pub teams, makes it difficult to generate the kind of coordinated effort to effect change.

Nonetheless, the competition has about 2500 members feeding fees into an administrative structure which is increasingly dysfunctional.

The only way to restore faith appears to be a fresh vote.

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