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Lamb joins ECB exodus

Angus Fraser
Thursday 27 May 2004 00:00 BST
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Tim Lamb resigned today from his post as chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board. Lamb has been in charge of the ECB since its inception in January 1997 but has come under increasing pressure because of the ECB's indecisive handling of the Zimbabwe issue and the recent proposals put forward for the future structure of domestic cricket.

Tim Lamb resigned today from his post as chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board. Lamb has been in charge of the ECB since its inception in January 1997 but has come under increasing pressure because of the ECB's indecisive handling of the Zimbabwe issue and the recent proposals put forward for the future structure of domestic cricket.

The 51-year-old former Middlesex and Northamptonshire player told David Morgan, the chairman of the ECB, of his decision on Monday but an announcement was delayed until a severance deal was agreed. Lamb, the highest paid official at the ECB, is on a salary of about £140,000 a year.

Lamb is the third senior official to leave the ECB in the last month. Des Wilson resigned from the board after his paper stating that moral considerations should be taken into account before England decide to tour was not adopted. And on Monday the ECB's marketing director, Mark Sibley, decided to resign after only a year in the job.

Their departures threaten to leave the ECB in disarray. All three would have played key roles in negotiations over the ECB's next television deal, which will take place later this year.

Although the counties are disillusioned with Lamb's dismissive attitude towards the county game, many will be disappointed that he no longer feels he has their confidence. Counties are now run by a new breed of chairmen, who want to have greater control over the business of the ECB, and their influence appears to have played a part in the recent exodus.

John Carr, the operations director, has been thought of as Lamb's replacement but there have been suggestions that someone from outside the present administration will be offered English cricket's top job.

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