Collier lands top English cricket job

David Collier, the current chief executive of Notts, is expected to be appointed to the top job at Lord's tomorrow.

Collier, 48, became the clear favourite earlier this week when it was announced that the search for Tim Lamb's successor as chief executive of the England Cricket Board had been narrowed down to a shortlist of three.

Richard Bevan, boss of the Professional Cricketers' Association, was one of the other remaining candidates - but Collier has looked the most logical choice for some time.

He is steeped in county cricket, even though he never played the game professionally.

An assistant secretary at Essex, Collier gained promotion on joining Gloucestershire in 1983 and then - following a spell out of cricket in the leisure and tourism industry - was appointed chief executive at Leicestershire.

Notts, Collier's fourth county, became his employers in 2000.

When Lamb resigned in May, ECB chairman David Morgan suggested that his successor would ideally have played the game at top level.

Collier cannot claim to fit that bill. But he is an expert in sports marketing and administration and his impressive CV is diverse enough to include a spell as an international hockey referee.

The new chief executive of the ECB - a post likely to be rewarded with an annual salary of around £170,000 - will move to Lord's at a time when English cricket is on a high in terms of results and public interest.

Even the much-maligned county game has been able to sing about the success of the Twenty20 competition.

But the issue of Zimbabwe - which triggered Lamb's demise - refuses to go away. And it won't just yet, either, with England having committed themselves to a controversial tour to that country in late November.

Then, closer to home, there is the matter of flagging morale inside the ECB offices at Lord's.

Lamb had not been the only high-profile departure by any means, with two other senior executives having also resigned in recent months.

Although Collier was generally seen as the favourite to replace Lamb, the fact that Bevan made the last three continues a remarkable rise for the players' best friend.

Eight years or so ago, few people inside the professional game had heard of Bevan.

Three winters back, when England's Test cricketers were wondering whether it was safe to tour India in the aftermath of 9/11, Bevan suddenly emerged as a man able and more than willing to speak on their behalf.

And, 18 months ago, then captain Nasser Hussain leant heavily on Bevan during the Zimbabwe World Cup crisis.

Indeed, the immaculately groomed official from the Professional Cricketers' Association had become so important to Hussain's squad that the strained skipper said in Cape Town: "I don't know where we would have been without Richard."

Hussain also praised him for bringing "so much professionalism to English cricket off the field".

But the idea of Bevan forming a working relationship with the ICC - and, particularly, that body's chief executive, Malcolm Speed - after the fiery meetings of last year was difficult to envisage and may have a played a part in the decision not to give him the ECB job.

Instead, it is Collier who the ECB believe is the best man to take English cricket forward.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in