Clare Connor to leave ECB after T20 Women's World Cup

Clare Connor, the ECB's Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of England Women, will leave the organisation after the Women's T20 World Cup later this year.

After a decade-long playing career, comprising 111 international caps across formats in the amateur era while also working as a teacher, former England captain Connor moved into administration.

During more than 18 years at the ECB, she oversaw the growth of women's cricket into a professional sport, introducing the first central contracts for England Women and professional contracts for domestic women's players.

She has been awarded the MBE, OBE and CBE for services to women's sport and became the first woman to sit on the ICC Cricket Committee before chairing the ICC Women's Cricket Committee. In 2021-22 she was the first female President of MCC and spent nearly a year as the ECB's Interim Chief Executive Officer in 2022-23.

"Having fallen in love with the game in a quite different era from the one we are in now, my goals as an administrator have been firmly rooted in making cricket more equal for women and girls," Connor said. "For it to be as normal for a girl to pick up a cricket bat as a boy. For a young woman to know - not just dream - that she can become a professional cricketer.

"To have played a part in removing some of the barriers that were preventing those things from being possible and to know that cricket is now a more inclusive and more gender‑balanced sport, is deeply rewarding.

"Of course, a job like this is never 'done' but I am proud to have done my bit. This has been the job of a lifetime so deciding to leave has been an extremely hard decision. This summer's ICC Women's T20 World Cup feels like the right time for me to end this chapter, confident that the momentum we've built will carry women's cricket forward into the bold, bright future it deserves."

As England captain, Connor led England Women to their first Ashes win in 42 years in 2005 before retiring the following year at the age of 29. She joined the ECB in 2008 as the only employee with sole focus on women's cricket.

In recent years, she led the ECB's consultation process in response to an Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket report which found the sport to be institutionally discriminatory on the grounds of race, class and gender. She also instigated a review of the England Women's team set-up following their winless Ashes tour of Australia a year ago, ultimately leading to the appointment of current Head Coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.

Richard Gould, ECB Chief Executive Officer, said: "Clare has been one of the most influential figures in cricket. Her leadership, vision and determination have transformed the game in this country and laid foundations that will benefit generations to come. Having overseen a home World Cup win in 2017, I hope that this year's T20 World Cup on home soil can provide a fitting finale to her time at the ECB."

England will host the T20 Women's World Cup from June 12 to July 5. They will be seeking their first global trophy since the 2017 ODI World Cup, and their first title in the short-format tournament since 2009, when they were also hosts.