Deputy CEO and MD of England Women will depart after ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, ending a career which transformed women’s cricket from amateur to professional
The England and Wales Cricket Board‘s (ECB) Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of England Women, Clare Connor, will depart the organisation following the conclusion of this summer’s home ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, bringing to a close an 18-year tenure that reshaped the landscape of women’s cricket.
In a statement today (February 10), Connor said helping to grow women’s cricket had “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,” she said.
Her tenure has seen her take an instrumental role in developing the women’s game from an amateur sport to today’s professional era. This includes overseeing the introduction of the first professional contracts for domestic female players.
Beyond elite performance, Connor’s impact was felt all the way down to grassroots levels, where she spearheaded a five-year action plan which made cricket one of the fastest-growing sports among young girls.
The recipient of the MBE, OBE, and CBE for services to women’s sport, Connor had two stints on the board of Sport England and was the first woman to sit on the ICC Cricket Committee before becoming its chair. She held this role for over a decade.
In 2021, she became the first female President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) before spending close to a year as the ECB’s Interim CEO in 2022-23.
These achievements followed a stellar playing career, where – in 2005 – she led England Women to their first Ashes win in 42 years as team captain.
“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,” Connor said.
“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.”
The ECB’s Inspiring Generations report for 2025-2028 substantiates these claims. It found women’s and girls’ cricket fixtures grew over 20% year-on-year in 2023 alone.
This came alongside investment of £12.7m ($17.36m) in women’s and girls’ facilities across 833 organisations between 2020-2024.
Chance to Shine delivered cricket to more than 600,000 young people in the 2022/23 school year, with a 50/50 gender split. This figure represented the highest engagement in cricket from young girls than ever before.
“Clare has been one of the most influential figures in cricket. Her leadership, vision and determination have transformed the game in this country and laid foundations that will benefit generations to come,” Richard Gould, ECB CEO said.
“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.”
Richard Thompson, ECB Chair, concluded: “I’m incredibly thankful to Clare for all she has given, and everything she has achieved. From driving professionalisation to championing opportunities for 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 girls growing up today can dream of becoming a professional cricketer and know that it can now become a reality. Thank you, Clare.”
