BatFast has appointed former Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley as global chief executive officer.
The appointment takes effect immediately and comes as BatFast accelerates the expansion of its AI-powered sports simulation platform across Australia, India, North America and the Middle East.
Nick Hockley’s extensive work in cricket
BatFast integrates robotics, computer vision ball tracking, machine learning analytics and gamification to deliver immersive training, entertainment and fan engagement experiences.
Hockley brings more than 20 years of experience across major sporting organisations and global events.
Most recently, he served as CEO of Cricket Australia from 2020 to 2025, steering the organisation through the pandemic and a period of sustained commercial and on-field success.
During his tenure, Cricket Australia secured men’s and women’s Ashes victories, six ICC trophies and Commonwealth Games gold.
The organisation also negotiated new broadcast agreements, delivered a refreshed five-year strategy and repositioned the Big Bash League for long-term growth.
Prior to that, Hockley held senior commercial and executive roles across global sport, including involvement in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and multiple ICC global tournaments.
He also served as CEO of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2020.
Existing ties to BatFast
Hockley has worked closely with BatFast in recent years. During his time at Cricket Australia, the company’s technology featured in fan engagement initiatives.
Since October 2025, he has also served as chair of HiTZ Australia, a cricket training platform that is majority-owned by BatFast and powered by its SmartPlay technology.
HiTZ recently opened in Melbourne, representing the first international deployment of BatFast’s AI-enabled cricket training model.
Nick Hockley’s appointment as BatFast CEO
Hockley described the move as an opportunity to help reshape how sport is experienced globally, saying he has seen first-hand how transformative BatFast’s technology can be.
“Over six years working alongside the company through the T20 World Cup and at Cricket Australia, I’ve seen them tackle one of sport’s fundamental challenges: how to make elite-level training accessible to everyone, while creating experiences that are genuinely fun, engaging, and appealing to a wide range of audiences,” Hockley said.
Hockley added that as sport continues to evolve, technology will play an increasingly central role in how people train and play. He noted that BatFast’s platform goes beyond simulation, personalising the experience, capturing performance data and helping players of all levels improve.
“I’m excited to work with Runish, Jignesh, the entire BatFast team, and all our partners to scale this globally and establish BatFast as a foundational platform for how people train, compete, and connect with the games they love.”
BatFast founders Runish Gudhka and Jignesh Patel will continue to lead strategic direction and technology development as founder and chief strategy officer, and founder and chief technology officer, respectively.
Gudhka said:
“Nick’s track record leading complex sporting organisations through periods of transformation, combined with his deep understanding of our technology and business model, makes him uniquely qualified to lead BatFast’s global expansion.
His appointment accelerates our ambition to establish BatFast as foundational infrastructure within cricket’s global ecosystem, and ultimately across multiple sports worldwide.”
Patel added:
“Nick understands both the technical capabilities of our platform and the commercial opportunities it unlocks. His leadership will be instrumental as we scale our technology across new markets and sports, while continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible in sports simulation.”
BatFast is at the intersection of sport and technology
BatFast’s platform currently operates across training facilities, entertainment venues and major sporting events worldwide.
The company works with organisations including Cricket Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the International Cricket Council, Tennis Australia and Major League Baseball.
Top Image: Cricked Australia