The Cricketer analyses the latest tweaks to be announced, which focus on a fully independent board
The ECB’s announcement that a path has been cleared for the creation of a fully independent board from next year should ensure the continuation of prized funding from Sport England.
Progressives will welcome the development, timed to usher in the major changes from 2020–24. They include a new non-county T20 tournament played in a block, a new TV deal involving Sky and the BBC, and probably one fewer Test a summer – six Tests, six one-day internationals and six T20Is (6/6/6!) could be the new order of the day, as first reported by The Cricketer in 2016.
Traditionalists will be dismayed that county representation on the ECB board is set to be severed, and fear this will have ramifications for the County Championship down the line.
The changes are also expected to see the departure of Giles Clarke, the controversial former chairman who is now president.
All of the 41 members of the ECB approved changes to the articles of association. That will see the ECB board reduce in size from 13 directors to 12 with effect from May’s annual meeting.
They follow a review led by the board’s deputy chairman, Ian Lovett. The ECB say this will “exceed the minimum standard required for national governing bodies set out in Sport England’s recently published Code for Sports Governance.”
The new 12-strong board will comprise three different categories of director:
Independent Non-Executive: Four non-executive directors who will be fully independent and need not have a close connection to cricket. This will include one senior independent non-executive director.
Cricket Non-Executive: Five non-executive directors with relevant experience drawn from the wider cricket network. Appointees will be required to stand down from any other current cricketing post which creates an actual or potential conflict of interest.
Chair and Ex-Officio Roles: Three ex-officio directors, being the ECB Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
All the non-executive Directors will be appointed for terms of three years and will be able to hold office for a maximum of three terms. The chair will be appointed for a single term of up to five years with the CEO and CFO serving as ex-officio members for the duration of their tenure.
The recruitment process for the new positions has begun, with ECB committed to ensuring at least 30 per cent of board directors are female as part of its support for gender diversity… in other words, at least four members of the board will be female. Currently only one – Lucy Pearson, an independent director – is on the board. Clare Connor and Charlotte Edwards could now come into the frame.
"These are ground-breaking changes to our governance which have been based on extensive consultation with all our stakeholders across the professional and recreational game" - ECB chairman Colin Graves
Breaking with the past, members are unlikely to be affiliated to a particular county. Looking at the current 13-person board, the upshot of it is that the chairmen and CEOs of counties and minor counties will not be represented, directly at least.
Surrey and Somerset chairmen, Richard Thompson and Andy Nash, and the CEO and chairman of Bedfordshire and Devon respectively, Martin Darlow and Jim Wood (the Minor Counties traditionally have representation) are currently on board.
Nash and Wood announced they were leaving their roles at their counties recently, while Darlow revealed to The Cricketer that he too was standing down from his roles with Bedfordshire and Cricket East - the regional body he helped set up in the autumn (see our January issue of The Cricketer magazine).
ECB chairman Colin Graves said: “These are ground-breaking changes to our governance which have been based on extensive consultation with all our stakeholders across the professional and recreational game.
“They will help make the board more representative of the whole game, embracing a broader and more diverse mix of independent voices as well as drawing on the experience and expertise of those working within the cricket network.”
Lord Patel is an independent director and it would be a major surprise if he did not continue.
“The ECB take governance very seriously,” he told The Cricketer in a far-ranging interview in the January issue, on sale now. “This includes diversity and inclusion – we will have three or four women, out of 10 or 12 on the board (sic).
“I am absolutely staying on, I am an independent board member. We need people like me who love cricket but can bring something else to it. I defer cricket knowledge to others.
"We don’t necessarily need people who are not associated with a specific county – we need people who can run a Test, know what it takes to be a professional cricketer and so on."
Posted by Philip Measures on 13/08/2019 at 20:53
As a Notts Member and one of a number of Members / Supporters who have grave (excuse the pun) concerns about the general 'direction of travel' of the First Class Game and especially the Championship and 'dumbing down' of the 50 Over Competition and the introduction of the largely unwanted 100-ball fiasco (see the 'NottsView' Blog to see our passion - probably the best Cricket Blog anywhere) I would point out the following issues and ask for the ECB to respond and justify their responses; a) In what other professional sport do Sides not play each other the same number of times - it just isn't cricket! b) How can it be professional to introduce a 10 ball Over with 2 different Bowlers at the same end as the 100-Ball Comp. will make possible? c) Given the need to introduce young people into professional cricket what consideration has been given to when different Formats of the Game are played which enable their attendance (i.e. school holidays / weekends) accompanied by their parents? d) What happends if the 100-Ball Comp. adversely affects attendances at T20 Matches? e) What will happen if the 100-Ball Comp. fails to attract sufficient size audiences to make it viable? f) IF Trent Bridge, for instance, does not meet the required seating capacity required for Test Matches without additional financial input will the ECB allow this world-famous Ground to be down-graded to a non-Test Match Ground? g) Is the ECB, in effect, seeking to work towards the loss of the County Championship as we know it in favour of the 'big bucks' and instant gratification of the Limited Overs Competitions - many of us feel that that is exactly the agenda? So, ECB, you need to be fully aware that there is a significant groundswell of discontent and anxiety which may well 'boil over' if genuine Supporters who value the history and ethos of traditional cricket continues to be trampled on - the 'new era' is very much based on the history of the traditional Game when there used to be many more Championship Games than now. There is a really rich and valuable heritage that many of us see as being sacrified on the horns of making money at any price - and increasing alcohol sales into the bargain.
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