England and Wales Cricket Board

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 to bring together the jobs of three older groups. In April 1998, it also included the Women's Cricket Association. The ECB's main office is at Lord's Cricket Ground in north-west London.

The ECB looks after all kinds of cricket in England and Wales. This includes the national teams like the England Men (Test, One Day International and T20I), England Women, England Lions (the men's second team), and teams for people with different abilities such as Physical Disability, Learning Disability, Visually Impaired, and Deaf.

Even though its full name is the England and Wales Cricket Board, people usually call it the ECB. This name was chosen when the group was formed from the older groups.

Structure and role

The ECB is led by an executive team that answers to a chief executive officer (CEO). Richard Gould became the permanent CEO in February 2023, taking over from Clare Connor, who had been acting in the role since May 2022. The CEO works under the Chairman of the ECB Board, a job held by Richard Thompson since September 2022.

The ECB has many jobs, such as picking and training the best players for England’s teams. It also helps plan and run big cricket events, like the ICC Cricket World Cup. In 2019, England’s men’s team won the World Cup for the first time, and the women’s team had already won it four times by 2017.

The ECB helps make sure cricket is fun and fair for everyone. It works on rules to keep the game safe and fair. Cricket is very popular in the UK, with millions of people watching and playing it every year.

National teams

England played in the first Test match against Australia in 1877 and has been a top team in cricket ever since. As of April 2022, the Men's Test team captain was Ben Stokes. England also played in the first One-Day International in 1971 and won the men's Cricket World Cup for the first time in July 2019. By September 2025, the captain of the men's white ball team was Harry Brook.

England's Women's team played their first Test series against Australia in 1934–35 and have won the World Cup four times, most recently in 2017. As of September 2025, the team was led by Nat Sciver-Brunt. The ECB works to support disabled cricket players, aiming to have 300 clubs offering programs for people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, visual impairments, and the Deaf community.

County Cricket

There are 18 First-Class Counties in England and Wales, with one county, Glamorgan, located in Wales. County cricket began in the 1740s, and the first County Championship was held in 1890. Since 2020, there are 10 teams in Division One and 8 in Division Two.

Map of cricket counties: First-Class Counties National Counties (formerly known as Minor Counties) Other counties

The National Counties are 21 areas that play cricket but do not have first-class status. These counties compete in their own championship, which started in 1895. Each county has an agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board to help improve communication and support for cricket. There are also many recreational cricket clubs across the country, and the ECB works with groups like Chance To Shine to help young players develop their skills.

Status of Wales

In the past, the England team played for the whole of Great Britain in international cricket. Welsh national teams played only sometimes, and Welsh players often joined the England team. After Ireland joined in 1993, Scotland became its own member the next year.

Some people think Wales should have its own team too. Both Cricket Wales and Glamorgan County Cricket Club support the England and Wales Cricket Board, saying it helps them financially. But in 2013, a member of the Welsh Parliament said he wanted Wales to have its own team. In 2015, a report talked about this idea. In 2017, the leader of Wales said it was strange that Wales did not have its own team like Ireland and Scotland do. In 2019, another member of the Welsh Parliament said Wales should become independent by 2020 and have its own cricket team.

Inspiring Generations

In 2019, the ECB started a plan called "Inspiring Generations" to make more people interested in cricket from 2020 to 2024. The goal is to inspire a new generation to think, "Cricket is a game for me."

This plan was made possible by a big TV deal worth about £1.1 billion, mostly paid by Sky television. The ECB chose 26 activities to help achieve this goal, focusing on six main areas: growing county cricket, inspiring through top teams, making cricket easy for everyone, getting kids and young people involved, supporting women’s and girls’ cricket, and helping communities.

Women's and Girls' Strategy

The ECB wants to make cricket fair for everyone, including girls and women. They have a plan to help more girls play cricket in schools and clubs, improve the quality of local girls' teams, and support top female players. They also aim to have more women working in cricket jobs and leadership roles.

By 2021, the ECB promised to spend £20 million to help grow women's and girls' cricket. Today, over 850 clubs have teams for girls and women, up from fewer than 100 in 2009.

The Hundred

Main article: The Hundred (cricket)

In 2020, the ECB started a new competition called The Hundred. This competition was made to attract families and young cricket fans. Each team gets to bat and bowl with 100 balls, so games finish in under three hours.

The ECB created eight new teams located in cities across England and Wales. These teams play in stadiums shared with older county teams but have new names, such as Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit. The Hundred was supposed to start in 2020, but it was delayed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The South Asian Action Plan

In 2018, the England and Wales Cricket Board started a special program to get more people from South Asian backgrounds interested in cricket. This includes people whose families come from places like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, where cricket is very popular.

The program began because over 30% of cricket players in England and Wales at that time had South Asian roots. The plan focused on making cricket more accessible by setting up special places to play in cities and bringing cricket to schools with many students from different backgrounds. One big achievement was opening the Leyton Cricket Hub in London in 2019, the first urban cricket center of its kind. The program also added many new playing fields and recruited volunteers to help grow the game.

All Stars Cricket

All Stars Cricket is a fun program from the ECB for boys and girls aged five to eight who are new to cricket. It has eight one-hour sessions over eight weeks, focusing on learning basic cricket skills, staying active, and working together as a team.

In 2019, over 67,000 children joined in at more than 2,200 clubs.

Disability Premier League (DPL)

In 2021, the England and Wales Cricket Board started the Disability Premier League (DPL). This is a special cricket competition for players with different disabilities, such as physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and hearing impairments. The DPL helps make cricket more fun and accessible for everyone.

There are four teams in the DPL: the Black Cats, the Pirates, the Tridents, and the Hawks. Each team has 16 players, and every year, new players are chosen for the teams. This makes sure all the teams are fair and balanced. Players from each disability group get to play an equal part in every game.

Major domestic competitions

The England and Wales Cricket Board organizes several important cricket competitions. These include the County Championship, One-Day Cup, T20 Blast, and The Hundred.