The England and Wales Cricket Board was established on January 1, 1997 as the single national governing body for all cricket in England and Wales.
It has its headquarters at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
The formation of the ECB was the culmination of a drive towards creating, for the first time, one unified body responsible for the management and development of every form of cricket for men and women.
This included clubs, schools, juniors and youth, disabilities cricket, representative, first class and international cricket - the whole game from playground to the Test arena.
The ECB took over the responsibilities carried out for some 30 years by the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB), the National Cricket Association (NCA) and the Cricket Council, all of which ceased to exist.
In April 1998 the Women’s Cricket Association (WCA) was also integrated into the organisation.
The formation of the ECB followed two years of research into how cricket in England and Wales could be better organised to attract more players to the game, raise standards at all levels and promote cricket as a spectator sport.
The ECB structure
Responsibility for the day-to-day running of the ECB rests with the executive management team who report directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, with each enjoying a high degree of functional delegated authority.
The CEO, in turn, reports to the Chairman of the ECB Board.
An Executive committee chaired by the CEO is responsible for delivering the ECB’s strategic plans and three other committees (Cricket, Audit, Risk and Governance, and Regulatory) are actively responsible for working with the senior management team on policy, planning and strategic issues - plus also at an arm’s length, the Cricket Disciplinary Committee.
The Board is comprised of a Chair, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, three Independent Non-Executive Directors, five Cricket Non-Executive Directors, the CEO and the CFO.
ECB Management Board
Board of Directors
Colin J Graves
Chairman
Colin was elected Chairman of the ECB in 2015, having previously served as Deputy Chairman since 2013 and as Executive Chairman of Yorkshire CCC. He became CEO of Yorkshire CountyCricket Club in 2002 and Club Chairman in 2006.
A lifelong cricket fan, Colin has together with Tom Harrison overseen a period of success for the ECB since 2015. This includes significant governance reforms and the move toa fully independent and more diverse Board that is representative of the whole game. He also helped pave the way for The Hundred, ECB’s new and exciting 100-ball competition launching in 2020.
A successful businessman, he founded the York-based Supermarket chain Costcutter in 1986 and oversaw its growth into a franchise network of more than 1,700 stores.
Also a keen amateur cricketer, he played club cricket for Dunnington CC in the Yorkshire and District Premier League for nearly 30 years and is currently the club’s President.
Tom Harrison
ECB Chief Executive Officer
Tom joined ECB as CEO in January 2015 and brings a lifelong passion for cricket to the role, together with over 20 years of sports business experience across the world.
Renowned as a progressive, value-led, strategic leader, Tom firmly believes cricket can be an enormous force for good in any community. He is passionate about the role sport can play to inspire current and future generations as players, volunteers and fans.
Four years into the role, Tom is driving transformational, positive change across the ECB and the wider game, through commercial excellence and by building strong relationships in and outside the game, delivering landmark partnerships with Sky and the BBC which will enable cricket to have the revenue, reach and exposure to thrive.
Tom also led the formation of ‘Inspiring Generations’, the game’s strategy for 2020-24, which sets out a bold plan for growth across the country into younger and more diverse audiences by seeking to increase participation.
Before joining the ECB, Tom was Senior Vice President at sports marketing giant, IMG, where he ran the company’s media business in the UK. Prior to that Tom was IMG’s lead in Singapore where he managed IMG’s business in South and South East Asia.
He also spent four years with Asian broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) and drove the syndication of multiple major sports properties, including the Olympic Games. This experience has given him a global perspective on the future business models for sports and media rights
Born in England, Tom was brought up in South Africa, returning to the UK aged 14. He is a graduate of The University of Manchester.
Tom is a former professional cricketer with Northamptonshire and Derbyshire, captained Middlesex Premier League club, Teddington CC, where he is still involved in the club.
Away from sport, Tom is on the Board of Patrons for the National Citizen’s Service (NCS), a national social development programme committed to building stronger local communities for young people. As a Patron his role is to help find ways of offering 15 to 17 year-olds, from all backgrounds in the UK, the chance to have inspirational and life changing experiences.
Tom is married and has two daughters.
Professor The Lord (Kamlesh) Patel of Bradford OBE
ECB Board – Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Ennobled as a Cross Bench Peer in 2006, Lord Patel has undertaken several ministerial roles in the House of Lords including in the Government’s Whips Office.
A qualified social worker, he worked in inner-city Bradford and then established a number of third sector organisations in the areas of mental health and substance misuse.
He later moved to academia working with various universities and being appointed Professor in 2001 – he has over 200 publications and has four Honorary Doctorates. He was awarded an OBE for “Services to Ethnic Minority Health Issues” in 1999.
He is currently either Chairman or Patron of over 30 not-for-profit organisations, including Chair of Social Work England. He has extensive experience working at the highest levels on national and international developments in government policy in a wide range of areas.
He was appointed to ECB’s Board as Senior Independent Director in 2015.
Delia Bushell
ECB Board – Independent Non-Executive Director
Delia was appointed to ECB’s Board in May 2018, bringing with her more than twenty years’ experience in media, telecoms and sport.
An Oxford University graduate, she rose through the ranks at Sky to become Managing Director of Sky Ireland, Director of Sky Broadband, and then Chief Commercial Officer of Sky Italia, before moving across to BT to lead its media division as Managing Director of BT Sport and BT TV.
In July 2019, she was appointed Group CEO of the Jockey Club, the largest commercial group in British horseracing. She was previously UK CEO and European COO of Afiniti, an artificial intelligence leader in the US tech sector.
She is also a Non-Executive on the Board of Commonwealth Games England, and on the Advisory Board of the Telegraph Media Group.
Brenda Trenowden CBE
ECB Board – Independent Non-Executive Director
Brenda Trenowden was appointed to ECB’s Board in 2018 as one of four new Non-Executive Directors.
A Partner in PwC UK within the people consulting practice, she is Global co-chair of the 30% Club - a campaigning organization which advocates increased representation for women in senior leadership roles.
A strong advocate for women’s economic empowerment, her work has been recognised with several awards for her global campaigning for greater gender balance across organisations as a voluntary, business-led imperative.
She is also an advisor to the UK Government’s Hampton-Alexander Review for increasing the representation of women in the executive level of the FTSE 350 and a companion of the Chartered Management Institute.
Brenda has more than 25 years of experience in capital markets, investment and relationship banking, with sector expertise in financial institutions. Prior to joining PwC Brenda led the Financial Institutions Group in Europe for ANZ Bank and was a member of their UK Management Board. She has also worked for a number of global financial institutions including BNY Mellon, Lloyds Banking Group, BNP Paribas, Peregrine and Citi.
In 2018, Brenda, was awarded a CBE for her services to the financial sector and gender equality.
Lucy Pearson
ECB Board – Cricket Non-Executive Director
A former England cricketer, Lucy joined ECB’s Board in July 2016. Lucy’s professional career has been in education, and at the time of her appointment to the Board she was Head Teacher at Cheadle Hulme School, being the first woman to hold that position in the school’s 150-year history. She started her career at Wolverhampton Grammar School before moving on to Solihull School and then Wellington College as Deputy Head.
In August 2018, she stood down from her position at Cheadle Hulme School and was appointed as the FA’s Head of Education.
Jim Wood
Non-Executive Director – ECB Board
In 2014, as Chairman of Devon County Cricket Club, Jim was appointed to the ECB Board by the Recreational Assembly. He resigned from his role with Devon in 2016 and was appointed as a Non-Executive Independent Cricket Director on ECB’s Board following its governance reforms in 2018.
His professional background is in Social Work, having managed a youth offending team and spent eight years being a statutory member of Devon’s Safeguarding Children’s Board.
On ECB’s Board, Jim chairs the Recreational Assembly, and, given his professional background, leads on matters relating to safeguarding including chairing the Safeguarding sub-committee.
He is also a member of the Regulatory, Nominations and Governance committees, together with having an active involvement in the County Partnership Agreement.
Jim maintains a keen interest in grassroots cricket and is President of his home club Exmouth CC.
Martin Darlow
ECB Board – Cricket Non-Executive Director
Former Chief Executive of Bedfordshire Cricket and then Cricket East (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire), Martin Darlow was elected to the Board in 2012 as the recreational game representative.
Martin retired from Bedfordshire Police as a senior detective in January 2012 having served for 32 years investigating major and serious crime. He also served as the policing commander for Luton and then Bedfordshire. He collaborated and then led the joint Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Professional Standards.
He is a Chance to Shine Independent Trustee Director, sits on the Lords Taverners Charitable Programmes Committee, and Chairs the ECB Anti-Corruption Committee.
Martin also still plays cricket, is the Chairman of Southill Park Cricket Club, and is a qualified active cricket umpire and coach.
Barry O’Brien
ECB Board – Cricket Non-Executive Director
Widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading corporate lawyers, Barry was a senior partner with the London-based law firm Freshfields and is presently Chairman of European M&A at Jefferies, the investment bank.
A Glamorgan committee member since 2007, Barry took over the chairmanship of his native county in 2011, overseeing the club’s finances, the appointment of a new management team and changes to the club’s governance.
He was appointed an honorary fellow of University College London in 2014, is a governor at Rugby School, a Director of Loch Lomond Golf Club, and was until recently the Chair of Governors for Haggerston Community School in Hackney.
Alan Dickinson
ECB Board – Cricket Non-Executive Director
Alan is a highly regarded retail and commercial banker having had over 40 years’ experience of high-level roles in retail and corporate banking, including as Chief Executive of RBS UK. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Lloyds Banking Group and Chairman of the listed property company Urban & Civic plc.
Alan is Chairman of ECB’s Audit and Risk Committee having been a member since 2012.
He was formerly Treasurer of Surrey County Cricket Club.
Scott Smith
ECB Chief Financial Officer
Scott is Chief Financial Officer and a member of ECB’s Board, responsible for financial reporting and business planning. His work enables the organisation to budget effectively, control expenditure and deliver its revenue objectives.
Scott also leads key business services including Legal & Integrity, Information & Technology and Procurement, as well as the Finance team.
He has over two decades of experience in financial leadership across sectors spanning sport, property, construction and consultancy.
With a classical grounding from PricewaterhouseCoopers, his more recent roles have been in motor racing and sailing’s America’s Cup.
Scott’s experience in sports and his demonstrable leadership skills have helped ECB drive improvement across the game.
Katie Bickerstaffe
Independent Non-Executive Director
Katie Bickerstaffe joined the ECB's Board in September 2019 as an Independent Non-Executive Director.
She has extensive experience managing and transforming businesses and is currently Executive Chair of SSE Energy Services (part of SSE Plc) as well as being a Non-Executive Director for Marks and Spencer Plc.
Prior to this she was Chief Executive of Dixons Carphone Plc (UK and Ireland), having previously worked with many leading global companies including PepsiCo, Unilever and Dyson.
A keen sportsperson, she is passionate about growing cricket, particularly the women's and girls’ game.
Members of the ECB
The 41 members of the ECB are:
The Chairs of the 18 First-Class Counties
The Chairs of the 21 County Boards in Non-First Class Counties
The Chair of the MCC
The Chair of the Minor Counties Cricket Association
Summary of Constitutional Changes 2015
Inspiring Generations
Inspiring Generations is the game-wide five-year strategic plan to grow cricket in England and Wales from 2020-24.
The five-year plan will see the whole game united behind a clear purpose: to connect communities and to inspire current and future generations through cricket.
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