Tom Harrison named new ECB chief executive

Tom Harrison, a former Derbyshire allrounder and currently a senior figure at sports marketing company IMG, is the surprising choice as the new chief executive of the ECB to replace David Collier.

Harrison, 42, had a brief first-class career in 1995 - playing in a team that included Dominic Cork, Phil DeFreitas, Devon Malcolm and Daryll Cullinan - before moving into the business world where he worked with the ECB for three years including as head of marketing. He then worked for ESPN Star Sports in Singapore until 2011 before his current position with IMG as a senior vice-president where he is heavily involved in TV rights negotiations, which will be a key part of his new job.

He has never held a position as high as chief executive but has been preferred ahead of the widely tipped Richard Gould, the Surrey chief executive, who was believed to be the favoured choice of chairman Giles Clarke.

"As a lifelong cricket fan, I feel extremely honoured and privileged to have been offered this opportunity to lead the ECB as its new chief executive officer," Harrison said. "I am a passionate supporter of the game across all formats, at all levels and I am genuinely excited by the substantial opportunities that the game has moving forward in this country."

Clarke said the interview panel had been impressed with Harrison's "energy, passion for the game and his positive, bold, creative and ambitious vision for the future of cricket in England and Wales".

Harrison's recent role in the TV rights business will be brought to the fore early in his ECB tenure as the board's current deal with BSkyB runs until 2017, although there is the option for two more years. There is likely to be greater competition for rights in the next round of bidding with the presence of the aggressive BT Sport, who have made a big play for Premier League rights and are keen to expand into the cricket market.

The ECB may reconsider how its rights are packaged. At the moment all live rights are bundled into one deal - only home international highlights are separate and reside with Channel 5 in the UK - but they could look to offer Twenty20 as a separate package while the issue of no live cricket on free-to-air television, which has been the case since 2005, remains a significant debate.

Colin Graves, the deputy chairman and chairman of the commercial committee, said: "Tom's commercial experience of working on some of the biggest sponsorship and broadcast deals completed in sport, means that he is exceptionally well qualified to help to drive more revenue into the whole game whilst his excellent network in Asia and at the ICC will be critically important as we look to continue to play a central role in the growth of the game internationally in the years ahead."

Harrison is due to take up his position in mid-January.