Karen Rothery leaves role as Leicestershire chief executive

She departs 11 months after she replaced Wasim Khan in the job; Khan moved on to become the managing director of the Pakistan Cricket Board

• Leicestershire pull pre-season tour to Spain: "The welfare of the players is absolute paramount"

Leicestershire chief executive Karen Rothery has left the county with immediate effect, less than a year after being appointed to the role.

She initially joined the club having previously worked as commercial director at England Netball, as well as in CEO posts at British Universities College Sports (BUCS) and Surrey Sports Park (SSP) at the University of Surrey.

However, she departs 11 months after she replaced Wasim Khan in the job; Khan moved on to become the managing director of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Leicestershire chair Mehmooda Duke said: “We would like to thank Karen for her contribution to Leicestershire CCC over the past year. We wish her well with the next stage of her career.

“As we approach the new season and the next chapter in the re-building of our great club, there are more, hugely significant steps we need to take.

“With the help of head coach Paul Nixon, his coaches, players and our dedicated staff, together with our local community, our members, supporters and the business community of Leicestershire and Rutland, we now plan to accelerate the growth of the club, to ultimately bring success back to Grace Road.”

The club added that it hopes to announce a replacement shortly.

^{Paul Nixon's Leicestershire squad was meant to travel to Spain for a pre-season tour}

Meanwhile, Nixon's side were due to travel to the Desert Springs resort in Almeria on Tuesday for a warm-weather training camp and a match against Cambridge University, before returning on March 22.

But following a meeting of senior management the decision was taken to withdraw from the trip.

“The welfare of the players, coaches, staff and their families is absolutely paramount in this situation," said Nixon. "Based upon this, we do not think it would be wise for the squad to travel to Spain for their tour.

How county pre-season plans have been affected by COVID-19

“We would like to thank the resort, our travel partners, the ECB, the PCA and all of the coaching and playing squads for all of their support and understanding. We have already spoken about the possibility of returning next year.”

More than a dozen counties have seen their pre-season plans disrupted by the coronavirus, with tours across the world cancelled at short notice.