Wanted: Top man for a tough job

David Lloyd13 April 2012

The pay is lousy. In fact, it's nonexistent. And, until recently, the chairman of the board - like everyone else connected with English cricket - could expect more brickbats than bouquets.

But, just as the national team has started to win on a reasonably regular basis, Lord MacLaurin is leaving the top post at Lord's.

So where are all the would-be successors? With more than three weeks to go before the nomination period ends, only two men have declared themselves as runners - and, publicly at least, they have nothing but praise for each other.

Mike Soper, the terminally ill but hugely energetic boss of Surrey, had the courage to put himself forward as MacLaurin's successor and then press ahead with his campaign when the chairman of the England Cricket Board originally decided he might like to go on for a fourth term.

David Morgan, of Glamorgan, proved that loyalty was one of his qualities by refusing to be on any ballot paper that included MacLaurin's name.

As deputy chairman, Morgan would not run against his No 1, preferring to remain in the background until the situation had sorted itself out.

Now MacLaurin's decision to walk away after six years at the helm has left the way clear for all and sundry. Yet the only confirmed contenders to date will be coming out of the same corner.

Yesterday, even as MacLaurin's resignation speech was being delivered, Soper, 56, told Standard Sport: "If I had to vote for anyone, apart from myself, it would be for David Morgan. I know how good David is. He's very straight and I rate him highly."

And 64-year-old Morgan said: "If I win I will be keen to use Mike and his ideas."

Both men are seen as supporters of steady change within the ECB - change that keeps the game moving forward but doesn't alarm or alienate the legions of committee members at county level.

"I would like us to build on what has been achieved over the last six years," said Morgan. "The England team and the organisation of our international cricket is now in much better shape.

"As for the county game, it needs to be popularised and Mike has some clear ideas on how that can be done.

"He has said he wants cricket to be more popular than soccer. Here in Wales, of course, it already is!"

Soper was favourite, and his odds were shortening all the time, when MacLaurin was expected to be the only other runner in a twohorse race. Now, though, if new soundings taken from around the country are accurate, Morgan heads the market.

"I have not been able to assess relative levels of support," said Morgan, who is a retired businessman and was a keen club cricketer - just like Soper, on both counts.

"But I have been encouraged by the telephone calls I've received since saying I would stand."

Both Soper and Morgan know all about the problems of running a county cricket club.

Soper has been chairman of Surrey since the mid-Nineties while Morgan became deputy chairman of Glamorgan in 1993 and is head of the First Class Forum - the committee on which all 18 championship counties are represented.

It is all worthy stuff. But neither man can compete, in terms of profile, with the only other person who is being seriously mentioned as a candidate.

Tony Lewis may need an introduction to younger followers of the game, but he would be instantly recognised on walking into any county committee room from Taunton to Chester-le-Street.

Lewis, 64, has a cricket career to envy: former captain of England, former Test Match Special commentator, former chairman of Glamorgan and ex-president of the MCC.

A fluent talker most of the time, he is choosing to say very little at the moment, other than that he will make up his mind about joining the race over the next couple of weeks.

In all probability, Lewis has decided to try to gauge whether there is any support for him before throwing his hat in the ring.

Nominations cannot be filed with Lord's until next Tuesday and then potential candidates have three more weeks to enter their names on the ballot sheet.

Lewis, it has been suggested, might be more radical and, for example, push hard for an extension to the system of central contracts - an issue that still causes ructions around the country.

But even a high-powered businessman like MacLaurin, used to making decisions without reference to sub-committees and working parties, could do little more than tinker with the administrative system.

However, a brief resume of what has happened over the past six years confirms that cricket's bigger picture has altered quite drastically.

A two-divisional county championship, the England Academy, the de-listing of cricket on terrestrial TV, central contracts - all are developments during MacLaurin's reign.

The game cannot afford to stand still these days and it needs a chairman nimble enough to lead it.

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