A turbulent duration for English cricket noticed any other high-profile departure amongst its management on Tuesday when leader govt Tom Harrison introduced he’ll be stepping down.
For the reason that flip of the yr, the lads’s take a look at captain, head trainer, director of cricket and now the CEO have all left their roles because the England and Wales Cricket Board launches a so-called “red-ball reset” amid troubling instances for the take a look at group.
Harrison has confronted one of the vital blame for that, having prioritized the shorter codecs of the sport on the lookout for larger earnings streams all the way through his greater than seven years as leader govt. That integrated being a key motive force at the back of the advent of the Hundred, a brand new festival created to expand the target market of the game and positioned on the center of the British summer time — in all probability to the detriment of take a look at cricket.
Harrison, who joined the ECB from sports activities advertising and marketing massive IMG in January 2015, needed to navigate English cricket via a deadly disease that created unparalleled monetary demanding situations after which a racism scandal sparked by way of court cases by way of former participant Azeem Rafiq.
The ECB stated in a commentary saying Harrison’s departure subsequent month {that a} “key phase” of the function for his substitute shall be making cricket “a welcoming and various recreation, together with in the course of the endured implementation of the motion plan agreed in November 2021 to power out discrimination throughout the recreation.”
Clare Connor, who’s these days managing director of ladies’s cricket in England, will exchange Harrison on an meantime foundation.
The ECB stated its annual earnings nearly tripled all the way through Harrison’s tenure.
Leader Government Officer Tom Harrison will depart the ECB in June after greater than seven years within the function.
— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) Would possibly 17, 2022
“The previous two years were extremely difficult,” Harrison stated, “however we now have pulled in combination to get in the course of the pandemic, conquer cricket’s greatest monetary disaster, and dedicated to tackling discrimination and proceeding the adventure against turning into the inclusive, welcoming recreation we try to be.
“I’ve put the whole lot into this function, however I imagine now could be the correct time to herald contemporary power to proceed this paintings.”