ECB 2023 / 2024 Annual Governance Statement - May 2024

Executive Summary

2023/24 has been an opportunity to consolidate and advance the ECB’s governance arrangements following a period of significant change for the ECB over 2022/23, as we strive towards our goal of being the nation’s most inclusive team sport. Over the past year, the six Directors appointed in May 2023 have settled into their roles, several new or evolved sub-committees have got up and running and we are progressing positively with forward looking challenges like our response to the ICEC Report and our new strategy for 2025-2028. This statement intends to summarise the key governance work and changes at the ECB over the past 12 months.

ECB Scope and Purpose

ECB continues to operate as the national governing body for the entire sport of cricket in England and Wales, with a remit that oversees international, professional and recreational cricket. The ECB is now into the final year of its 2020-2024 strategy, Inspiring Generations which presents an opportunity to refresh our strategy and major funding agreements with our partners for the next 2025-2028 strategic cycle.

ECB Governance Framework

The ECB’s core governance framework remains unchanged. The ECB is a company limited by guarantee, and our 41 Members consist of the chairs of each of the 18 First Class County Cricket Clubs, the 21 County Cricket Boards of the non-First-Class Counties, the National Counties Cricket Association and the Marylebone Cricket Club. These members have a series of reserved powers as defined in Company Law and the ECB’s Articles of Association.

The workings of the ECB are governed by the ECB Board of Directors, headed by the Chair. The Board oversees the day-to-day running of the ECB, which is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive leadership team. The Board also delegates authority to a series of Sub-Committees who are responsible for specific aspects of ECB Governance. Following recent reforms, the ECB’s Sub-Committees consist of:

ECB Corporate Sub-Committees:

- Finance, Audit and Risk Committee

- Nominations Committee

- Remuneration Committee

ECB Cricket Sub-Committees:

- Professional Game Committee – to oversee the delivery and growth of Men’s and Women’s professional domestic cricket. This is a newly established Sub-Committee.

- Recreational Game Committee – to oversee the delivery and growth of recreational cricket. This is a newly established Sub-Committee

- Performance Cricket Committee – to oversee the performance and development of England international teams.

ECB Integrity Sub-Committees:

- Regulatory Board – responsible for overseeing the work of the Cricket Regulator (including in relation to the enforcement of ECB regulations in relation to safeguarding and integrity matters) and providing oversight and advice in relation to regulator setting matters. This has been reformed in 2023 following the launch of the Cricket Regulator.

- Cricket Discipline Commission – an arm’s length body responsible for hearing cases bought by the Cricket Regulator under the ECB Regulations. We are now in the process of reforming this into the Cricket Disciplinary Panel.

Key Governance Activity 2023/24

ECB Board

The ECB Board has been through a period of consolidation as the six new Directors appointed in May 2023 have been onboarded and the Chair (2 years in role) and CEO (1 year in role) continue to develop the new strategy for the ECB. Following eight years at the ECB, our CFO and Board Member Scott Smith has recently stepped down to be replaced in both positions by Nimesh Kataria. There has been no further changes to the Board. During 2023/2024 the Board has strengthened its engagement with our county network by firstly extending a standing invite to the Chairs of the three Cricket Committees to all ECB Board meetings (should they not already be Board Members) and introducing a new initiative whereby leaders from a rotation of different county organisations are invited to join part of each ECB Board meeting to observe and present on their own work.

EDI and the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC)

The issue of equity, diversity and inclusion in cricket remains the highest priority for the ECB. Following the publication of the ICEC Report in June 2023 and the ECB’s Response in September 2023 we have ensured our governance processes are set up to effectively respond. We have established an EDI Board Sub-Group with responsibility for overseeing and monitoring the ECB’s delivery of our ICEC Response, alongside an extensive executive project management system to support implementation. We reported on our progress in response to the ICEC Report at the DCMS Select Committee in February 2024.

Several of the Report’s recommendations are linked to ECB’s governance. Our major actions in response have been:

- Establishing The Cricket Regulator in December 2023, a new ring-fenced function responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the game’s regulations. It in turn is overseen by the Regulatory Board which retains delegated authority from the ECB Board but is run independently.

- Launching a process to revise the ECB Articles of Association to respond to ICEC Recommendations. In doing so we have identified a series of reforms which we will consult on with the game.

- Continuing to diversify the non-executive directors from across the game. 34% of directors on county boards are now women – up from 11% in 2019. 19% of directors on county boards are ethnically diverse – up from 5% in 2019.

ECB Cricket Sub-Committees

Following the 2022 Portas Report, the ECB established two new Cricket Sub-Committees, The Professional Game Committee (PGC) and Recreational Game Committee (RGC) in late 2023. Each has strong delegated authority to oversee the running of their respective areas of the game. The PGC is chaired by Mark McCafferty, Chair of Warwickshire CCC and the RGC is chaired by Jennifer Owen Adams, ECB Board Member. We have already seen significant positive impact from both committees in supporting the ECB Board with its decision making and oversight of cricket and would like to thank all those involved on each committee. We established the Performance Cricket Committee (PCC) in May 2024 – the third sub-committee recommended by Portas. This will be chaired by Richard Gould, ECB CEO.

Cascading Good Governance

The ECB has for several years, with the launch of cricket’s County Governance Framework in 2020, led the sports industry in cascading good governance requirements to its local / county network. Following successful implementation over 2020-2024, the ECB is now working to refresh and extend county governance standards for the 2025-2028 period. This is in part guided by several ICEC Recommendations. The ECB is currently consulting with the county network on detailed standards, but we intend to extend Board diversity targets and introduce a new “Gold Tier” of standards.

Sport England Code of Governance Compliance

Through 2023 the ECB, along with other NGBs, has completed its assessment against the Sport England Code of Governance. We have received confirmation of our continued compliance with the Code, subject to implementation of an Action Plan in relation to one specific element of the new Code Requirements: People Plans. This shall be concluded at the July 2024 Board Meeting.

Richard Thompson, Chair, on behalf of the ECB Board