Paul Downton has lost his job after a torrid 14-month tenure as managing director of England cricket.
Downton succeeded the quietly efficient Hugh Morris in February 2014 and found himself under pressure almost immediately when he fronted the decision to sack star batsman Kevin Pietersen.
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Downton’s reappointment of Peter Moores as head coach has also had its critics, not least after a dire World Cup campaign, while his backing of Alastair Cook as one-day captain up until the point of ditching him on the eve of that tournament also looked clumsy.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s new chief executive Tom Harrison was the public face of the decision, but it is one which must surely have been taken with Colin Graves, who starts work as chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board next month.
Graves has already floated the notion of a possible recall for Pietersen – although the trail of recriminations and back-biting is so long that must remain a long shot – and Downton’s opposition to that has now been removed.
National selector James Whitaker also seems vulnerable after a shaky showing in the role, and Graves has spoken of an inquiry should England fail to win their Test series in the West Indies.
Moores is expected to be given time to continue his rebuilding but events are conspiring to make him glance nervily over his shoulder.
Harrison offered the expected gracious send-off to Downton, but actions speak louder than words and the very job description he was working to has been abolished.
None right now! Let me just work hard & try score a lot of runs… https://t.co/CzW4irmKsE
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) April 8, 2015
The ECB will now recruit a slightly renamed director of England cricket, focused entirely on the performance and less on the business of administration.
Downton played 30 Tests and 28 ODIs for his country but his subsequent career in the City of London did just as much, if not more, for his appointment.
With a change of emphasis, the likes of Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss and Nasser Hussain – all recent England captains – could yet be tempted to step away from their lucrative media arrangements.
