GEORGE DOBELL: Kalifa had overseen the recruitment process for the new chair, with a minority of county chairs feeling this compromised his suitability for the role and left the organisation open to accusations of a ‘stitch up’
Ron Kalifa has withdrawn from the race to be ECB chair leaving the organisation facing an extended leadership vacuum at the top level.
Kalifa had emerged as the overwhelming favourite for the role once the ECB reopened the recruitment process a couple of weeks ago having concluded the initial exercise had not generated candidates of the quality desired.
Not only does Kalifa have an outstanding business background – he holds a board role at the Bank of England among many other things – but he has a reputation for moral courage and integrity which has not always been apparent at the organisation in recent years.
In light of the diversity crisis which has beset the game in recent times, it may also have been relevant that he would have been the game’s first chair of colour.
But Kalifa had, until recent weeks, been chair of the ECB’s nominations committee. And, as a result, had overseen the recruitment process for the chair role. A minority of county chairs felt this compromised his suitability for the role and left the organisation open to accusations of a ‘stitch up’ in the recruitment process. To ensure there are no such doubts, Kalifa has withdrawn from the process.
The ECB has been without an appointed chair since Ian Watmore stepped down after little more than a year in the role last October. While Barry O’Brien, the former Glamorgan chair, had been appointed in an interim capacity, he has recently been obliged to stand down due to a health issue.
The delay to appoint a chair could extend Tom Harrison's premiership (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images)
Martin Darlow, who has a background in policing and in the recreational game, is currently doing the job in an interim capacity. They had hoped to appoint a new chair in time for the ECB AGM in mid-May but will now have to delay for several weeks.
To add to that uncertainty, it is an open secret that Tom Harrison is keen to move on from the role of ECB chief executive. But with no chair in position and the search for a new CEO seemingly waiting until that appointment is made, he now looks likely to remain in place until deep into the summer.
A game divided by several serious issues – including the domestic and international schedules, the future of the Hundred and the domestic T20 competition, the inclusion debate and the scope of the new broadcast deal – desperately requires fresh leadership which can untie and rationalise the sport.
But with no progress having been made on the recruitment for either of the two key roles – chair or chief executive – it seems the game will continue to be rudderless for many weeks to come.
In the longer term, it seems inevitable that the ECB’s governance review will conclude that the board should, in future, include a representative from the first-class counties. This would represent a significant change of approach after a former governance review concluded the board required independence from the county game.
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