Tom Harrison is stepping down as chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, the PA news agency understands.

Harrison has been in the post for the last seven years but, as first reported by The Guardian, his reign is set to come to an end with an official announcement expected on Tuesday morning.

Harrison’s imminent departure, and his anticipated replacement by managing director of women’s cricket Clare Connor, is the latest in a series of major changes at the heart of English cricket.

Clare Connor
Clare Connor, the managing director of women’s cricket, is being tipped to replace Tom Harrison (Jacob King/PA)

Since the turn of the year, men’s director of cricket Ashley Giles, head coach Chris Silverwood and Test captain Joe Root have all been replaced, with the ECB chair currently vacant as well.

Harrison has proved a polarising figure at the head of the game since his appointment in 2014 and his tenure will be forever linked to the controversial launch of The Hundred.

The long-term success, or otherwise, of the eight-team city tournament has yet to be determined but Harrison was one of the architects and biggest advocates of a change which continues to split cricket fans.

Ashley Giles and Joe Root
It has been a year of chance at the ECB with men’s director of cricket Ashley Giles (right) and captain Joe Root among those to leave their posts (Mike Egerton/PA)

Harrison, who enjoyed a brief first-class career with Derbyshire before moving more successfully into the field of marketing and media rights, helped deliver a broadcast deal worth more than £1billion in 2017.

He also oversaw the ECB’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, though some of the goodwill he earned for his handling of that turbulent period and his own decision to take a voluntary pay cut dissipated when he accepted a large bonus earlier this year.

He and a group of senior management shared a pot worth around £2.1million based on a long-term incentive plan, drawing criticism due to the 62 redundancies made by the governing body as a result of Covid-19.