https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2022/05/17/tom-harrison-ecb-chief-executive-england-clare-connor/
Counties threaten 'breakaway' as Tom Harrison resignation plunges English cricket deeper into chaos
Plus, Q&A: Why are the counties unhappy and what has caused the leadership vacuum?

By
Nick Hoult,
CHIEF CRICKET CORRESPONDENT and
Tim Wigmore
17 May 2022 • 6:19pm
Tom Harrison quits as ECB chief executive after torrid year
Tom Harrison has been in the role since 2015 CREDIT: PA

English cricket was plunged into fresh turmoil after the abrupt resignation of England & Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison on Tuesday increased threats from the counties to form their own “breakaway”.

Harrison stood down after seven years as the ECB's chief executive on the eve of the governing body’s annual general meeting at Lord’s on Wednesday.

His decision has left the ECB without a chief executive -with Clare Connor replacing Harrison in the interim - and a chairman at a time when the game has been threatened by the Government with an independent regulator amid rising anger from the counties over a “governance crisis” that leaves them powerless. The ECB has been without a chair for seven months.

Tom Harrison steps down as ECB chief executive
Clare Connor will replace Tom Harrison in the interim CREDIT: PA
“The counties are not happy. The inevitable conclusion is to say to the recreational game that the 18 counties are breaking away,” one senior county source told Telegraph Sport. “Nobody wants that. We should be able to govern our game but the current constitution makes it extremely hard to do that. The board makes decisions, appoints execs and if the execs are running off in the wrong direction, it is a problem because we don’t have a board that knows cricket and knows when to pull them back in line. Independent board members are good in theory but the evidence has not played out.”

Read more at

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2022/05/17/tom-harrison-ecb-chief-executive-england-clare-connor/

Let them.

They'll come crawling back in no time.

Play for England vs Play for a club that can't financially support itself.

On Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 9:03:16 PM UTC+1, jzfre...@gmail.com wrote:
> Let them.
>
> They'll come crawling back in no time.
>
> Play for England vs Play for a club that can't financially support itself..

There is something like a precedent for breaking away in English cricket although at the level of individual players .

When the Packer revolution began in the late 1970s the English cricket authorities tried to ban those who took the Packer shilling from county cricket . This was found to be unlawful at the county level (because this was a settled contractual obligation like any other employment) but de facto lawful at the England level because players turning out for England did not have extended contracts.(they were essentially freelancers when playing for England).

The current system with England players is much more complicated because of central contracts (and the power it gives for players to be restricted in playing for their counties) England players are now effectively are arguably employees of the ECB.

RH