Tom Harrison will not ‘run away’ from role as chief executive of England and Wales Cricket Board | Cricket News

England have parted company with head coach Chris Silverwood, assistant coach Graham Thorpe and managing director of men’s cricket Ashley Giles this week in the wake of the 4-0 Ashes thrashing; CEO Tom Harrison says ECB prepared to spend money to land best coaches available

Tom Harrison will not be resigning from his position as chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board

Tom Harrison says he has no intention of “running away” from his role as chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board despite a chastening time for cricket in the country on and off the field.

The last year has seen a racism scandal at Yorkshire and an Ashes thrashing, with the 4-0 defeat in Australia meaning England’s Test side have lost 10 of their last 14 matches.

Harrison, speaking to reporters during a media briefing at Lord’s, said he wants to help the rebuild and does not plan to be the next departure after head coach Chris Silverwood, managing director Ashley Giles and assistant coach Graham Thorpe, whose exit was announced by the ECB on Friday.

He said: “When times are really difficult you need people to step into that challenge and I am here to do that. I have never been more determined to do that. I am not running away from the challenge.

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“It has been exceptionally difficult but I am not running away because it needs leadership and some consistency in terms of how we build back to a place where the game can recover from an extremely difficult period both on and off the pitch.

“We have a lot of work to do and we need to get the Test team back on track.

“We are building a plan to get the Test team back into a good place and we also need to retain our top-of-of-the-world status in white-ball cricket.

“We clearly have a huge issue with resetting red-ball cricket in our domestic game and setting ourselves up to win at Test level.

Harrison confirmed discussions on whether England would have split red and white-ball coaches going forward would take place – and that the ECB is prepared to spend good money in order to entice the best coaches available.

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On split coaches, Harrison said: “I think it is something we need to look at. The challenge of a coach in charge of three formats and selection had some overlapping responsibilities which made it exceptionally difficult.

“We have to make the right decision around coaching budgets but this is coaching England and we need the best coaches available to do that.

“We present very appealing and desirable opportunities for coaches.

“I don’t think it’s ever been the chase of scrimping and saving on the opportunities we offer. We want it to be an opportunity coaches feel they can give everything to.

“In the coaching environment now, you are competing with a lot of different pressures.

“The England job brings with it an extraordinary level of scrutiny but also a commitment. In some cases, there are easier opportunities elsewhere.”