Baroness Zahida Manzoor (Image by UK Parliament)

Penny Avis, Baroness Zahida Manzoor CBE, Jennifer Owen Adams and Gareth Williams will all add their expertise to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after being appointed its newest Non-Executive Directors.

The three-year appointments follow the loss of Brenda Trenowden CBE, who passed away in August 2022, and a number of current Board members leaving the Board at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Penny Avis, currently the Senior Independent Director at the PGA European Tour, and Baroness Manzoor, Chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service, will become Independent Non-Executive Directors, while Jennifer Owen Adams, currently Chair of Cricket Wales, and Gareth Williams, Chair of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, join as Cricket Non-Executive Directors.

Appointments of two further Cricket Non-Executive Directors will be confirmed in due course.

ECB Chair Richard Thompson said, “It gives me great pleasure in welcoming Zahida, Jennifer, Penny and Gareth onto our Board. They are all exceptional leaders with demonstrable strategic experience and expertise across a range of different fields, and are all passionate about our sport.

“The ECB is privileged to be able to call upon their knowledge, communication skills, integrity, judgement, and independence. We look forward to having all four leading and supporting the growth of cricket in England and Wales at this vital time for our game, as we seek to make cricket the most inclusive sport in the UK.”

Penny Avis is a former Deloitte UK board member and a hugely experienced Non-Executive Director. She is the Senior Independent Director at the PGA European Tour, chair of the Deloitte Former Partners Association, and a former Non-Executive Director at UK Athletics, Cifas, Envestors, and Equitable Life.

Baroness Zahida Manzoor CBE is a former regional chair of the NHS, Trustee of the NSPCC and is currently the Chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service. She was appointed to the House of Lords in 2013, having amassed significant Board experience in large, complex organisations. Educated at the University of Leeds and the University of Bradford, she has been awarded five honorary doctorates in recognition of her achievements.

Jennifer Owen Adams is the Chair of Cricket Wales. Educated at Loughborough University, she spent most of her professional career in education and the ‘Third’ sectors. She has been a member of the ECB’s Participation and Growth committee, is an Independent Member of the Powys Teaching Health Board, inaugural Chair of dance organisation Impelo, and a former director of Wales, Midlands and North West for education charity Teach First.

Gareth Williams has been Chair of Glamorgan County Cricket Club since 2018. A solicitor, he was the senior partner at Wales’s largest law firm, Hugh James, for 12 years before his retirement from the partnership in 2017. Gareth specialised in sports law, representing a wide range of national governing bodies, clubs and high profile individuals. In addition, Gareth has been Chair of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and of the University of South Wales.

The appointments will be ratified at the ECB AGM in May.

The ECB has been recruiting a number of Independent and Cricket Non-Executive Directors following the death of Ms Trenowden, and several other current Board members stepping down at next month’s AGM, including Barry O’Brien, Jim Wood, Lucy Pearson, Valerie Amos and Martin Darlow.

Sir Andrew Strauss will also stand down as Strategic Adviser to the ECB Board and Chair of the Performance Cricket Committee at the time of the AGM after many years of outstanding service to the ECB. He took up the Board role in September 2020, and also stood in as interim Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket for a period between February and May 2022. He previously served as Director of England Cricket for three and a half years until October 2018. Having recently taken on additional external responsibilities, Andrew has decided it is time to step away from his ECB role.

Richard Thompson said, “Andrew has given outstanding service to English cricket over many years in a number of different roles. I’ve greatly valued the advice and expertise he has provided in my time as Chair, and have enjoyed working with him. We are currently implementing the vast majority of recommendations from his impressive High Performance Review, which I believe will help our England Men’s teams to sustain their success. I have no doubt he has much more to contribute to the game and hope he will return in the future.”

Sir Andrew Strauss said, “I’ve really enjoyed my time at the ECB and am proud of having contributed to a successful period for our England teams. With increasing commitments outside of the organisation, sadly I’ve decided it’s time to step away from my current role. I wish the new Board all the very best as it continues in its mission to grow our game.”

In addition, David Mahoney MBE, currently Chief Operating Officer, will be standing down from his role on 1 September to pursue new opportunities. David will carry on his work for the ECB over the summer and from 1 September will continue to provide support to the ECB in an advisory capacity.