Richard Gould has been named as the new chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board in a sign that the governing body is trying to rebuild bridges with the counties after the divisive Tom Harrison era.
The former Somerset and Surrey chief executive has been an outspoken critic of the Hundred in the past, and while he will doubtless strike a more conciliatory tone at the ECB his appointment increases the likelihood that changes will ultimately be made to the franchise competition.
Gould will begin his new role in January. The son of the former Wales football manager Bobby, he is working in football as chief executive at Bristol City but remains highly respected within the county game after his 16 years at Somerset and Surrey.
Unlike Harrison, who was hired for his marketing expertise and brought in from the media conglomerate IMG with the brief of shaking up the English game, Gould’s focus will be on seeking compromise at what promises to be a turbulent and delicate period for English cricket.
The ongoing row over the men’s domestic schedule, with counties reacting strongly to the reduction in cricket proposed by Andrew Strauss’s high-performance review, is one immediate area of concern. It was also telling that the ECB media release highlighted Gould’s record on inclusion, as it seeks to heal the rifts and injustices exposed by the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal. While at Surrey, Gould was instrumental in launching the ACE programme, the much-lauded initiative to increase young Black participation in cricket.
There is a certain irony in the fact that in Gould and the new chair, Richard Thompson, the top two roles at the ECB are now being occupied by two of its biggest critics. Surrey and the ECB once enjoyed a fractious relationship, with the former chair Colin Graves even threatening to strip the Oval of international fixtures in retaliation for its opposition to the Hundred.
While the competition is safe until at least 2028 because of broadcast commitments, Gould and Thompson may eventually decide to shorten its exclusive window in the calendar, or even sell it to private investors.
