Middle-aged white guys had made the decisions.
Anna Campbell snapped that exclusivity when she was appointed to the board two years.
It is believed she was the first woman appointed to the board. A year later, Renuka Bayley joined her and at the annual meeting earlier this week, Liane Topham-Kindley and Rachel Pullar were confirmed on the board which is now an even split in terms of gender.
It has not been an entirely organic evolution. New Zealand Cricket has directed the major associations to get more females involved at governance level.
But that said, the OCA has moved swiftly and has been quick to see the benefits in having a wider representation on the board.
All of that makes Topham-Kindley just a little uncomfortable, though. She is not there just to fill some quota.
"New Zealand Cricket has put a real push on and I think that has been the impetus for a lot of this change," she said.
"I'd like to think people have been selected for their skills rather than their gender and in some ways I actually don't like that [gender quota].
"But I think the reality is it has probably made the major associations realise that they have to do things differently and it can't just be the old boys network that it used to be.
"There is a real focus now on putting the resources in to drive girls' cricket."
Like a lot of us of a certain vintage, Topham-Kindley grew up with a poster of Martin Crowe on her wall.
That had something to do with the way he looked as well but Topham-Kindley is a confirmed cricket tragic and is passionate about the game.
She is an experienced communications professional and has been involved in governance roles before, primarily in the education sector.
"Like most Kiwis, I enjoy sport and cricket is one of them. I remember watching my dad play and I played cricket myself."
She captained the Darfield High School First XI.
"It was interesting because at that time women's cricket in the 1980s was reasonably big."
She has three boys and they are all involved in sport. Hunter Kindley is on the cusp of the Otago side and Will Kindley has also played age-group representative cricket, while Tom Kindley works for USA Rugby.
"I feel like I was lucky because I've been through the stages with them ... and I've sort of seen where there is perhaps a few gaps and things."
While there is a concerted effort to lift the profile of female cricket, Topham-Kindley said it was important male cricket did not get shunted aside as a result.
"Obviously I want to see more women and girls involved in cricket. But we also have to be really careful that while we are doing this that we don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
