ECB Plans Fit and Proper Persons Test to Stymie Future Stanfords
Cricket: Giles Clarke reveals details of plan to clean up the game
In the wake of the fallout from the Sir Allen Stanford affair that led to calls for his resignation, the England and Wales Cricket Board's chairman Giles Clarke has promised to introduce a new fit and proper persons test as part of a wide ranging review of the sport's future.
Partly in response to a challenge from the culture secretary, Andy Burnham, earlier this week, Clarke and the ECB's chief executive, David Collier, has outlined a series of key reforms in the way the game is governed, including improved representation for women at the highest levels and independent input into a new five-year strategic plan.
As revealed in the Guardian yesterday, Burnham has challenged major sports to reassess their relationship with money and ensure more is invested in the grass roots. In a meeting with Clarke and Collier later the same day, he raised concerns about the long-term health of the county game and the lack of a test for backers of the national team and owners of counties.
Following a board meeting earlier today, Clarke said the ECB would work far more closely with government in an attempt to tackle the issues raised and address them in its forthcoming review. But he also placed some of the onus back on to Burnham by looking into how regulators and government might help investigate the finances and legitimacy of potential owners.
The ECB chairman said he would discuss with Burnham "suitable arrangements for securing independent verification and input into the next five-year plan and how his department can assist in the complex financial arrangements that may be needed in examining whether people and institutions are fit and proper to be involved in the game".
The moves represent an attempt by the ECB to get back on to the front foot in the wake of the divisive Pietersen-Moores affair and the damaging Stanford episode. It also effectively concedes that the ECB's narrow definition of due diligence prior to signing a deal with Stanford, whose arrangements with the ECB have been terminated after he had his assets seized last month by US financial regulators who accused him of a "fraud of shocking magnitude", will be insufficient in future.
In spite of Burnham's criticism of Stanford's involvement in cricket, ECB insiders feel they have established a good working relationship with government in recent months and argue that its progress in driving grassroots participation and increasing attendances should be recognised.
"Ministers want to ensure that cricket continues to flourish in this country, at all levels, and enthuses fans," said a spokesman for the Department of Culture Media and Sport. "They feel that the Stanford Series put money ahead of the integrity of the game. Competitive cricket needs to be about local and national pride first and foremost and not about money which can turn fans off the sport."
Partly in response to a challenge from the culture secretary, Andy Burnham, earlier this week, Clarke and the ECB's chief executive, David Collier, has outlined a series of key reforms in the way the game is governed, including improved representation for women at the highest levels and independent input into a new five-year strategic plan.
As revealed in the Guardian yesterday, Burnham has challenged major sports to reassess their relationship with money and ensure more is invested in the grass roots. In a meeting with Clarke and Collier later the same day, he raised concerns about the long-term health of the county game and the lack of a test for backers of the national team and owners of counties.
Following a board meeting earlier today, Clarke said the ECB would work far more closely with government in an attempt to tackle the issues raised and address them in its forthcoming review. But he also placed some of the onus back on to Burnham by looking into how regulators and government might help investigate the finances and legitimacy of potential owners.
The ECB chairman said he would discuss with Burnham "suitable arrangements for securing independent verification and input into the next five-year plan and how his department can assist in the complex financial arrangements that may be needed in examining whether people and institutions are fit and proper to be involved in the game".
The moves represent an attempt by the ECB to get back on to the front foot in the wake of the divisive Pietersen-Moores affair and the damaging Stanford episode. It also effectively concedes that the ECB's narrow definition of due diligence prior to signing a deal with Stanford, whose arrangements with the ECB have been terminated after he had his assets seized last month by US financial regulators who accused him of a "fraud of shocking magnitude", will be insufficient in future.
In spite of Burnham's criticism of Stanford's involvement in cricket, ECB insiders feel they have established a good working relationship with government in recent months and argue that its progress in driving grassroots participation and increasing attendances should be recognised.
"Ministers want to ensure that cricket continues to flourish in this country, at all levels, and enthuses fans," said a spokesman for the Department of Culture Media and Sport. "They feel that the Stanford Series put money ahead of the integrity of the game. Competitive cricket needs to be about local and national pride first and foremost and not about money which can turn fans off the sport."
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