England Announce Management Changes

[Woodster]

England have announced that Paul Downton is the man to replace Hugh Morris as Managing Director of England taking over on February 1 2014 with Morris taking up a similar role at his beloved Glamorgan C.C.C.

Another change to the ECB structure comes on the selection committee with James Whittaker stepping up to take the role as National Selector after Geoff Miller announced he would be resigning.

Downton comes with ample credentials for the job, not just his extensive experience as an international cricketer but also his business experience that he has gained after cricket. Everyone seems to speak very highly of Hugh Morris and the job he has done for England so I'm sure he will be a touch act to follow.

The promotion for Whittaker I guess gives continuity to selection, not sure his lack of international experience will necessarily work against him as he appears to have been an important part of selection since he arrived on the committee. I'm guessing this means there will be a vacancy on the selection committee?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Not sure what to think of this. Time will tell.

Most important thing for English cricket is keeping Andy Flower for as long as possible.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I believe Nasser had his hat in the ring for the gig Downton's now got. No disrespect to the able stumper, but I would've liked to see Hussain given a crack at it. Always talks a lot of sense and is clearly v passionate about the English game.

Part of me thinks that this has been done to grow the ECB brand stateside after the success of Downton's eponymous Abbey over there...

 

[Woodster]

I know Andrew Strauss was another name linked with the MD position, but he distanced himself from that as it was too soon for him. I'm presuming Nasser didn't distance himself from the speculation he was in the running then ? I think Nas would be an excellent man for this position, but surely his job at Sky is too cushy for him to take on so much hassle. Would seriously miss him if he was part of Sky's comms team, as you say he talks a heck of a lot of sense. Maybe room for him now on the selection committee ?

 

[Spikey]

Yeah I like the decision to being back McDermott