ECB chair to step down after just a year in the job
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Ian Watmore has stepped down as chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board after serving just a fifth of his five-year term.
The ECB said the decision was mutual.
Watmore said he was stepping down “in mindfulness of my own wellbeing and that of the game which I love.’
Watmore and the ECB have been under lashings of criticism in recent weeks for a decision to pull-out of a proposed tour to Pakistan.
That built on previous criticism of CEO Tom Harrison and other senior executives receiving sizable bonuses despite Covid-19 wreaking havoc on the game’s finances.
Harrison and other bigwigs shared a £2.1m bonus despite the ECB embarking on a redundancy program at the same time.
Players also agreed to pay-cuts.
Watmore said he “was appointed to the post in a pre-pandemic era, but Covid has meant the role and its demands on time are dramatically different to all our original expectations, which has taken a personal toll on me”
“Given this, the board and I feel the ECB will be better served by a new chair to take it forward post pandemic.
“Leaving now, at the end of the season, gives the board time to find a new chair to support cricket through the challenges of the 2022 season and beyond,” he continued.