Hugh Morris to step down from ECB role

Morris to step down from ECB role

Hugh Morris will step down as managing director - England Cricket to take up the role as chief executive and director of cricket at Glamorgan County Cricket Club

ESPNcricinfo staff

26-Aug-2013

Hugh Morris is set to join Glamorgan as chief executive and director of cricket  •  PA Photos

Hugh Morris will step down as managing director of England cricket to take up the role as chief executive and director of cricket at Glamorgan.

His departure will leave a vacancy near the top of the ECB hierarchy and adds to the debate over Andy Flower's future after weekend reports that he was nearing the end of his time as team director.

Morris, 49, joined the ECB in November 1997 at the end of his playing career with Glamorgan. He was initially the board's technical director and subsequently served as managing director of England Cricket since September 2007. He also served as ECB performance director and as acting chief executive of the board in 2004.

He oversaw one of the most successful periods in English cricket history which has included three consecutive Ashes series victories, rising to No. 1 - albeit briefly - in all formats of the game and securing the World Twenty20 title in 2009. The women's team also found unprecedented success with World Cup, World Twenty20 and Ashes victories. During his time with the ECB, he was also responsible for revamping the board's coaching and science and medicine programmes.

"This has been a remarkable period in the history of cricket in England and Wales and I have been extremely proud to having been able to play a part in it," he said. "In my time at the ECB I have been fortunate to work with some extremely dedicated and talented cricketing people and I thank them and the board for the support they have given me and their contribution to the success of the England teams.

"It has been my privilege to work with Andy Flower, the England team director, during the last four years and congratulate the players on their three Ashes series successes, being the number one ranked team in the world in all three formats of the game, and also winning one ICC global event and being runners-up in another. I am sure they will go on to even greater achievements in the future.

Hugh Morris on...

His achievements

"I've been at the organisation for 16 years and enjoyed every minute of it. Winning any Ashes series is very special and three in a row is very special, it is the first time that has been done for a very long time. Winning the World T20 was really important. We had never won an ICC global event before and breaking the mould was really important. I was really proud of Loughborough. It's something we definitely needed, we needed a headquarters for English cricket for a long time. That has been a real step change in the way we operate."

The IPL

"We have been pretty clear on that: we have allowed players to go there for a certain period of time. Our international program obviously crosses the IPL and we want our very best players available for selection for England. That's the position we have and that's the position we will try and maintain. Clearly we will try and be flexible towards the players: it is a fantastic opportunity for them to play in a competition where they are obviously going to earn a lot of money. So I would like to think we have had a pretty pragmatic and sensible approach to it."

Challenges at Glamorgan

"I am going to challenge myself, no doubt, on the commercial side of things. It is good to see that some of the results on the field are heading in the right direction. What I will be doing is going back to a club that is very different from the one I left. The facilities they have now are great. On the field, clearly we need to do better, we have not won a trophy for ten years and that's something we are looking to address."

"Under Clare Connor and Charlotte Edwards, the England women have also won the ICC Women's World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 - successes which have brought great credit to ECB and I thank them for their dedication and commitment."

David Collier, the ECB chief executive said: "Hugh has been an influential figure within the ECB since its inception in 1997 and his vision has helped deliver this outstandingly successful period in our cricketing history.

"He will be sadly missed at Lord's by all the ECB staff and at Loughborough where he provided the blueprint for the widely admired National Cricket Performance Centre. We all wish him well on this latest phase of his career with Glamorgan."

Morris, a former left-handed opening batsman, was one of the most consistent and successful batsmen in Glamorgan's history. He will now go back to the county as a senior executive.

"I am now looking forward to a new and exciting challenge with Glamorgan which I will tackle with energy, enthusiasm and relish," Morris said. "I wish the England teams at all levels and the ECB the very best of luck in the coming years and I am sure they will enjoy further success."

Glamorgan chairman Barry O'Brien was thrilled to have Morris returning. "We are delighted to have been able to appoint a person with the calibre of Hugh Morris who has achieved so much as managing director of England Cricket," he said. "He was also one of our most reliable and prolific batsman scoring almost 20,000 first-class runs at an average of more than 40, but in addition to being a very fine player he has demonstrated in his many roles at the ECB that he is also an administrator of the highest ability."

Morris became Glamorgan's youngest ever leader in 1986. He stood down from captaincy at the end of the 1989 season to concentrate on his batting. After scoring 10 centuries and 2276 runs in 1990, he returned to captaincy in 1993 and led Glamorgan to the Sunday League title. After retiring, he took up the post of technical coaching director with the ECB.

He played three Tests for England in 1991, and 314 first class and 274 List-A matches. He scored 19785 first-class runs, including 53 hundreds, at an average of 40.29.

Hugh Morris England