ECB announce Tom Harrison as their new CEO

Tom Harrison has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The ECB has announced that Harrison will officially begin his new role in mid-January after being selected to succeed David Collier, who announced in July that he was stepping down at the end of the domestic season after 10 years in the role.

Harrison has a strong background in the sport having been head of cricket for sports marketing agency IMG, where he was also responsible for the company's media business.

The former Derbyshire and Northamptonshire player has extensive experience in dealing with international cricket boards, while he also worked for the ECB between 2003 and 2006 before standing down as head of marketing to join IMG. 

An ECB statement read: "Tom joins the ECB from the leading international sports marketing agency, IMG, where he was Head of Cricket and responsible for the IMG Media business in the UK and Ireland across all sports and all platforms.

"During his time at IMG, Tom managed all IMG’s broadcaster relationships, their UK based federation relationships and has worked with cricket boards around the world overseeing global media rights sales for Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa and the IPL.

"Tom has significant relationships in Asia having worked for IMG’s media business in the Indian sub-continent for two years and for ESPN Star Sports in Singapore for four years prior to that.

"Tom will be returning to the ECB having worked for nearly four years for the organisation between January 2003 and December 2006 in various roles, latterly as head of marketing."

Rigorous

ECB chairman Giles Clarke said: "Tom has come through a rigorous recruitment process which included us meeting with candidates in leadership positions from cricket, other sports and from outside of the industry.

"He was the unanimous choice of the interview panel who were impressed with his energy, passion for the game and his positive, bold, creative and ambitious vision for the future of cricket in England and Wales. Tom has a proven track record of success in his career to date and a wealth of relevant experience both in the UK and internationally.

"His knowledge of both the professional and recreational game as a former first class cricketer and as a Premier League club captain of Teddington CC has provided him with great insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the game domestically.

"Finally, it was important to the panel that we chose a leader who would inspire all those connected with the game and in Tom, we believe we have found a leader with the charisma and vision to achieve this."

Harrison added: "As a lifelong cricket fan, I feel extremely honoured and privileged to have been offered this opportunity to lead the ECB as its new chief executive officer.

"I am a passionate supporter of the game across all formats, at all levels and I am genuinely excited by the substantial opportunities that the game has moving forward in this country."