England and Wales Cricket Board
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB), the National Cricket Association (NCA) and the Cricket Council.
The ECB is governed by representatives of the 38 first-class and minor counties and the MCC. It is headed by the Management Board (with 15 members), a First-Class Forum (for first-class cricket) and a Recreational Forum. The ECB's chairman is David Morgan of Glamorgan and its chief executive is David Collier.
An important responsibility is the direction of the England national side. The Chairman of Selectors David Graveney and the Head Coach Duncan Fletcher and his team are ECB employees. The ECB also employs the England Captain Michael Vaughan and other centrally contracted players, as well as being responsible for the ECB National Academy, currently based at Loughborough University.
The ECB is responsible for the financial direction and commercial exploitation of England cricket. It raises revenue from the proceeds of sales for tickets at one-day internationals and Test matches in England and shares in revenues when the England team play abroad. The ECB is also responsible for the generation of income from the sale of sponsorship and broadcasting rights, primarily in relation to the England team. The ECB's income in the 2005 calendar year was £78.8 million. [1]
In 2005 the ECB took on responsibility for the direction of women's cricket in England and Wales.
In 2005 the ECB concluded a commercial arrangement with BSkyB which gave Sky the exclusive television rights for live Test cricket in England for four years (the 2006 to 2009 seasons). This deal, which took live Test cricket for home England matches away from terrestrial television for the first time generated substantial future revenues for English cricket, but was criticised by many England cricket supporters and others.
The ECB courted further controversy in 2005 when they appeared to dither over the employment contract of the bowling coach Troy Cooley who was seen by many as an important contributor to England's Ashes success. Cooley left the England setup and joined Australia's staff. [2]
The ECB's offices are at Lord's Cricket Ground, London.
