Lancashire chairman hits out at ECB

Michael Cairns, the Lancashire chairman, has launched a strong attack on Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman who is currently seeking re-election.

Lancashire put their backing behind Lord Marlard and seconded his nomination, but his campaign is struggling after a number of counties confirmed their support for Clarke ahead of the election early next month.

Cairns, though, didn't hold back in a letter he wrote to all the counties, extracts of which have been published in the Daily Telegraph. He said the ECB's 'dereliction of duty was an embarrassment' over the Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores double departure and that top officials at the ECB should also have gone.

"In the past year we have seriously fallen out with the Indians, the Australians have failed to join us and voted against us for the first time in history," Cairns wrote. "We have the Allen Stanford debacle and, to cap it all off, the Pietersen/Moores saga bringing with it unfortunate public awareness of a split in the dressing room, which was symptomatic of the lack of a firm grip at the very top of the ECB management, chairman, and chief executive, on the affairs of English cricket.

"Their dereliction of duty was an embarrassment to English cricket for which the chairman, at the top of the management structure, must take the responsibility. Indeed he should have resigned of his own volition when the new captain was appointed."

Lancashire have had a tense relationship with the ECB since missing out a 2009 Ashes Test and Cairns also hit out at the ECB's dealings with Allen Stanford over the Super Series in Antigua. Although Stanford is believed to be on the brink of ending that event the ECB still hope he will back a Twenty20 triangular tournament at Lord's this summer and field a team in the English Premier League starting in 2010.

"I fail to understand how the decision to enter into a fairly long-standing contract with Sir Allen Stanford can be considered beneficial to either our game or reputation going forward," Cairns added.