News came through on Monday that David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive from 2004-2014, has passed away aged 70. Collier’s decade in charge coincided with some of England’s most productive years, both on and off the field.
Early facts first. England’s men won four Ashes series in that time, lifted the 2010 World T20 in the Caribbean and, briefly in 2011, sat on top of the ICC’s Test rankings for the only time since the system was introduced. The women’s side were equally busy, claiming five Ashes successes and completing a 50-over and 20-over world title double in 2009.
Collier succeeded Tim Lamb as just the ECB’s second chief executive. Before that he had held senior posts at Essex, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire, and even found time to umpire top-level hockey. A short stint as CEO of the Rugby League International Federation and a vice-presidency at American Airways underline an unusually varied CV.
His name will always be linked with chairman Giles Clarke and the £220 million television deal struck with Sky Sports in December 2004. That agreement, controversial then and still debated now, ended the game’s long relationship with free-to-air broadcasters and funnelled significant cash into the professional structure. Counties felt the benefit first; grassroots programmes followed.
Richard Gould, the ECB’s current chief executive, said: “It’s immensely sad to learn of the death of David Collier. Everyone who knew and worked with David will speak to what a gentleman he was, and to how hard he worked in leading our game.
“He served cricket with great distinction, and he was instrumental in a period of growth which has contributed to where the game is today. Some of our earliest advances in the women’s and disability games were made under David and I know he was proud of taking the game forward during his time at the ECB – his contribution speaks for itself.
“The thoughts of all of us at the ECB are with everyone who knew and loved David.”
That tribute captures Collier neatly. He was rarely the loudest voice in a room yet could persuade with a mixture of numbers, patience and well-timed humour. Senior players remember him for discreet check-ins during tours; county chairs recall brisk but fair budget meetings. His friends insist he still opened the bowling for village sides well into his 50s, slower each year but no less competitive.
Collier stood down in 2014 and received an OBE for services to cricket. In later years he stayed broadly out of the headlines, though his counsel was occasionally sought when the Hundred, a competition he might quietly have enjoyed for its risk-taking, began to take shape.
Away from sport he was a keen traveller and left behind a family he spoke of often but kept resolutely shielded from the public eye. Funeral details are expected to be confirmed later this week.
A complex legacy, then. Increased funding, a golden run of England results and the lasting debate about pay-TV: that is the bundle modern administrators inherit. What most who met him will recall is simpler—a decent man who set out to leave cricket stronger than he found it, and by most measures managed exactly that.
