Woman-of-many-parts Connor to exit ECB

Article posted by Coliseum, March 3^rd, 2026

Image: ECB

Clare Connor, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) (UK) Deputy Chief Executive Officer and the Managing Director of England Women, announced recently that she will leave the organization at the end of this Summer’s home International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup.

‘ECB’ stated that in a trailblazing career Connor has overseen the transformation of Women’s and Girls’ cricket in England and Wales for more than 18 years at the ECB.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales (UK). It was formed on January 1^st, 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council. In April 1998 the Women’s Cricket Association was integrated into the organization. The ECB’s head offices are at the 31,100-capacity Lord’s Cricket Ground in North-West London.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of the sport of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by the Australian, English and the South African representatives. In 1965, the body was renamed the International Cricket Conference and its current name was adopted in 1987. The ICC has its headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is a biennial World Cup for the sport of cricket in the Twenty20 International (T20I) format. It is organized by the International Cricket Council. The first edition was held in England (UK) in 2009. For the first three editions there were eight participating nations but the number was raised to 10 from the 2014 edition. The number of teams are set to increase to 12 during the 2026 edition.

The 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will be the 10th edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled to be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). England had previously hosted the inaugural competition in 2009. A total of 12 teams will compete in 33 matches across seven venues. It will be held from June 12^th-July 5^th, 2026 and will be hosted by England and Wales.

‘ECB’ further stated that she has led Women’s cricket from an amateur game into a professional era introducing the first central contracts for England Women (England Women’s cricket team) and overseeing the introduction of a professional structure and professional contracts for the domestic female players. As well as these game-changing developments at the performance end of the sport she also led the delivery of a five-year action plan that has resulted in cricket becoming one of the fastest growing grassroots sports for the women and girls.

Connor’s impact on cricket – and the wider women’s sport landscape – has already been recognized and celebrated. She has been awarded the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) and the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to women’s sport. She served for two terms on the Sport England Board and became the first woman to sit on the ICC Cricket Committee before chairing the ICC Women’s Cricket Committee, a role she has held for over a decade. In 2021-2022 she was the first female President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and then spent nearly a year as the ECB’s Interim Chief Executive Officer in 2022-2023.

Loughborough (UK)-based Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with the national governing bodies of sport and other funded partners, to grow the number of people taking part in sport and physical activity, remove the barriers that make it harder for some people to be active, and sustain the participation levels.

Commented Connor, “Helping to grow women’s cricket for the past 18 years has been an absolute privilege. 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. 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. I am so grateful to have worked with many brilliant colleagues and players over the years many of whom I can call lifelong friends. What we’ve achieved together has exceeded anything I could have dreamed of when I embarked on this journey 18 years ago. 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 the England captain Connor led the England Women to their first Ashes (Test cricket series played between Australia and England) win in 42 years in 2005 before retiring the following year with more than 100 international appearances to her name. She combined her 10-year international playing career as an amateur with a career in teaching.

She joined the ECB in 2008 as the only employee with sole focus on Women’s cricket. As the Director of England Women’s cricket she oversaw a transformational period for the game including a double triumph by the England Women in two ICC global events and an Ashes win in 2009, the introduction of professional contracts for 18 players in 2014 and the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup win at the Lord’s.

After becoming the ECB’s Managing Director of Women’s Cricket in 2019 with responsibility for grassroots cricket through to the England team she led the creation of Transforming Women’s and Girls’ Cricket Action Plan which secured multimillion-pound investment to turbocharge the growth of Women’s cricket at every level.

After a spell as the Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2022, she became the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) in addition to her role as the Managing Director for England Women in 2023 with that year’s thrilling Women’s Ashes series smashing attendance records. She also coordinated the response to the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket Report (a Commission set up in 2021 to investigate racial equality, gender equality and social equality in English cricket) bringing the game together to formulate a wide-ranging response to the issues raised.

Remarked Richard Gould, ECB head honcho, “Clare has been one of the most influential figures in cricket. Her leadership, vision and determination have transformed the game in this country (UK) and has laid the foundations that will benefit the generations to come. We will miss Clare hugely and owe her an enormous debt of gratitude for everything she has done for cricket. 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.”

Added Richard Thompson, ECB Chair, “I’m incredibly thankful to Clare for all she has given and everything she has achieved. From driving professionalization to championing opportunities for the women and girls on and off the pitch she has changed the game in ways that are profound and lasting. She has made our sport more inclusive and will leave a remarkable legacy, not least that the girls growing up today can dream of becoming a professional cricketer and know that it can now become a reality. Thank you, Clare.”

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 500+ member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue