Giles Clarke elected as new ECB chairman

The Somerset chairman, Giles Clarke, has been elected as the new chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, after seeing off the challenge of his only rival for the role, the current deputy chairman and former head of Surrey, Michael Soper.

Following David Morgan's appointment as the president-elect of the ICC, the two candidates went head-to-head in the original poll in August, but were tied at nine votes each. This time the margin was more comprehensive, with Clarke emerging victorious by 12 votes to six, with one abstention.

The call for nominations closed on Monday, September 3, and all 18 first-class counties and the MCC went to a ballot. The endorsement from the full membership of the ECB is scheduled to be completed on October 10, and Clarke will remain in the role until March 2009.

The 53-year-old Clarke began the ballot as the underdog, having become an unpopular figure in English cricket after brokering the £220million deal with BSkyB that took home Test series away from terrestrial television. But he is currently overseeing the redevelopment of the county ground in Taunton and is believed to be keen on attracting investment to try to boost the finances of county cricket.

Soper admitted after his failure to win the first ballot that he had failed to make a strong enough case for his election, and tendered his resignation as ECB deputy after the results of the second ballot had been revealed.

"It is with great regret that I am tendering my resignation," he said. "Over the last five years I have endeavoured to unite this great game of ours and bring a sense of balance and fair play to both the Test match grounds and non-Test match grounds.

"The last few weeks have saddened me in that nine county chairmen told me to my face that they were supporting me. I have now found that three nameless individuals have, in fact, lied. I cannot represent the game at the highest level while people do not honour their word. It has never been my way because I have always believed in the maxim 'my word is my bond'.

"I will always be available to serve our wonderful game should the need arise and I hope that English cricket in the long run will always remain a vibrant force for young people to enjoy."