Richard Thompson could be tempted into ECB chair role, and he would be a perfect fit

GEORGE DOBELL: Thompson has been urged to stand by several county chairs who feel his mix of cricketing experience, financial acumen and moral integrity are the perfect blend. The early rumours suggest his resolve not to stand is weakening

Sun Tzu almost certainly wasn't thinking about the role of ECB chair when he wrote "in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity" but it fits pretty neatly anyway.

The news that Ron Kalifa has withdrawn from the race to be ECB chair was a significant blow to not just the organisation but the game. As a vastly experienced business leader with an outstanding record of integrity, he seemed just the character to take the sport forward.

His decision to withdraw – taken, in essence, to protect the game from any sense of impropriety as he had been involved in the recruitment process until a late stage – arguably underlines why he would have been such a fine leader.

But we are where we are. And, amid that chaos, there is still the opportunity for the ECB to appoint an excellent chair who can unite the game at one of its most uncertain and divided periods.

Richard Thompson has long been regarded as one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking chairs in the domestic game. He has not only helped develop Surrey into the financial powerhouse it has become, but has seen the club develop numerous England players and nurse the embryonic ACE programme. In both moral and practical terms, he has an impeccable background. 

^{Richard Thompson would be a good appointment as ECB chair [Getty Images for Surrey CCC]}

He has, until now, resisted the suggestion he could run for this role. He has business and family commitments which are demanding of his time and he is at the stage of his life where he can make a great deal more money from his role as chair of M&C Saatchi UK than he can from the role of ECB chair.

Besides, most insiders scoff at the suggestion the job is likely to demand three days of commitment a week.

"It's more like eight days a week," one former ECB board member said recently. "And for that, you take all the blame when things go wrong and none of the credit for them going right." Ian Watmore, you suspect, is nodding furiously as he reads those words. 

"Richard Thompson has long been regarded as one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking chairs in the domestic game"

But the withdrawal of Kalifa – who had Thompson's fulsome support – could prompt a rethink. Both men were understood to be concerned at the agendas of one or two of those who intimated they might now apply for the position. And he has been urged to stand by several other county chairs who feel his mix of cricketing experience, financial acumen and moral integrity are the perfect blend for a divided game.

The early rumours suggest his resolve not to stand is weakening. 

It would not be atypical. Many people, in Thompson's position, take on a variety of non-executive directorships which take up three or so days a month and bring in something like £40,000 a year. He, instead, has chaired Sports United Against Dementia, which aims to raise funds for the Alzheimer Society. The smart money suggests he will listen to the pleas and apply for the role.

^{Thompson could tempt Richard Gould to return to cricket [AFP via Getty Images]}

If he does, it raises the intriguing prospect of a return to cricket for Richard Gould. Gould, the former Surrey CEO, narrowly missed out on the role of ECB CEO when Tom Harrison was appointed and subsequently left the sport about a year ago for a similar role at Bristol City FC.

But if anyone could lure him back, it is Thompson. And the partnership of two people with strong backgrounds in cricket, successful backgrounds both in and away from the game, and a demonstrable record for integrity, suddenly offers a glimmer of hope at the end of chaotic and unedifying few months for the ECB. 

As Sun Tzu also said: "There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare."

Either way, it's time for Thompson to answer the call. As Lord Kitchener might have put it, his country needs him. Now is his time.

Related Topics

• Ron Kalifa pulls out of process to appoint new ECB chair