In 2007 Giles Clarke became David Morgan's successor as chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, after defeating the former Surrey chairman and ECB deputy, Michael Soper, in a election that had to go to a second ballot after the first poll was tied at nine votes each. In 2012 he earned re-election for a third term which will keep him in the role until at least 2015.

Clarke had begun his first campaign as the outsider, with many stakeholders in the game still resentful of his handling of the controversial £220 million deal in 2004 that sold the rights to home Test series to Sky TV. Clarke, however, has remained unrepentant in his pursuit of big-money deals.

The founder of Majestic Wine and Pet City, Clarke reportedly paid his way through Oxford University by gambling, and in 2007 brokered a £40 million deal to sell highlights of England internationals to the Asian market. As Somerset's chairman since 2002, he pushed through a £60 million redevelopment of the county ground at Taunton, with a view to making it a viable venue for the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009. In 2006, under his stewardship, Somerset became the official home to the England women's cricket team.
Andrew Miller