ENGLAND AND WALES CRICKET BOARD (ECB) deputy chief executive and managing director of England Women Clare Connor has announced she will leave the organisation at the end of this summer’s Women’s T20 World Cup.

Former England Women captain Connor, 49, has been with the ECB for more than 18 years, helping to oversee the introduction of a professional structure and professional contracts for domestic female players.

In 2021-22, Connor was the first female president of Marylebone Cricket Club and then spent nearly a year as the ECB’s interim chief executive, while also chairing the ICC Women’s Cricket Committee for more than a decade.

“Helping to grow women’s cricket for the past 18 years has been an absolute privilege,” Connor said on the ECB website.

“Having fallen in love with the game in a quite different era from the one we are in now, my goals as an administrator have been firmly rooted in making cricket more equal for women and girls.

“For it to be as normal for a girl to pick up a cricket bat as a boy. For a young woman to know — not just dream — that she can become a professional cricketer.

“To have played a part in removing some of the barriers that were preventing those things from being possible and to know that cricket is now a more inclusive and more gender‑balanced sport, is deeply rewarding.”

Connor said: “Of course, a job like this is never ‘done’ but I am proud to have done my bit. This has been the job of a lifetime so deciding to leave has been an extremely hard decision.

“This summer’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup feels like the right time for me to end this chapter, confident that the momentum we have built will carry women’s cricket forward into the bold, bright future it deserves.”

ECB chief executive Richard Gould paid tribute to Connor as “one of the most influential figures in cricket.”

“Her leadership, vision and determination have transformed the game in this country and laid foundations that will benefit generations to come,” Gould said.

“We will miss Clare hugely and owe her an enormous debt of gratitude for everything she has done for cricket.”