Middlesex Cricket can today confirm that Richard Sykes will become the Club’s new Chair.
Sykes, who has been a Director on the Middlesex Board since joining in July 2016, will step up from his role as Senior Independent Director and assume the Chair’s position with immediate effect.
Whilst Richard has assumed the role with immediate effect at the Board’s request, his appointment is subject to ratification by the Club’s members at the next Annual General Meeting.
The Club began a recruitment process, undertaken by an Independent Executive Search Company, to replace former Chair, Mike O’Farrell, who stepped down from the role at the Club’s Annual General Meeting in April, with Angus Fraser, the Club’s Cricket Development Director, stepping into the role on an interim basis until a permanent appointment was made.
Sykes takes on the Chairship with a solid background in sports governance roles, having just completed nine years as a Non-Executive Director for England Hockey and having worked with Lord Woolf on the ICC’s governance review of world cricket.
He is the current President and Director of Hampstead and Westminster Hockey Club, is Treasurer of the Zoological Society of London, is a Non-Executive Director of a Global Engineering Consultancy and was a former Trustee of the Woodland Trust.
Speaking of the appointment of Richard Sykes as the Club’s new Chair, Andrew Cornish, Middlesex’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are absolutely thrilled after such an extensive search for a new Chair, that Richard has accepted the role. From a high-quality list of candidates provided to us by the Independent Executive Search Company who conducted the recruitment process, Richard was by far the standout candidate.
“Having worked closely with him since I personally began working with Middlesex in late 2020, I know what he is capable of, and I cannot think of a better person to replace our former Chair Mike O’Farrell.
“The role of Chair at Middlesex is unlike that of any other First-Class County and poses challenges that are unique to the role. In Richard, we have someone who understands the complexities the role presents, who has worked with us on driving our strategy and our vision, knows our ethos inside out, and is fully behind the Club in helping us to achieve our ambitions, both in the short and long-term.
“On behalf of everyone at Middlesex Cricket I congratulate Richard on his appointment and cannot wait to begin working alongside him in his new role. I can say with complete confidence that Middlesex Cricket is in good and safe hands.”
Richard Sykes, on taking the Chair’s role, said:
“First and foremost, I would like to thank Angus Fraser for fulfilling the Interim Chair’s role in the period since Mike O’Farrell stepped down as Chair. Gus has helped guide the Club through a difficult few months and we are all extremely grateful for everything he has done and continues to do.
“I am honoured and excited at the opportunity to become Chair of Middlesex County Cricket Club at such a critical time in the Club’s history.
“Now that the ECB investigation is complete, we can concentrate upon returning the Club to a secure financial position, underpinned by robust governance, such that the focus will be on providing our professional cricketers with the confidence and environment required to ensure success at the highest level.
“I look forward to meeting members over the coming weeks and months, and in the meantime, I thank them for their ongoing support and passion in what has been a challenging time for the Club.”
