ECB's Chief executive David Collier announces his retirement

The ECB are now looking for a replacement for David Collier (©GettyImages).

The England and Wales Cricket Board's chief executive, David Collier, has announced his retirement from the role he has held for nearly a decade.

Despite England's fall from grace over the last few months, Collier has overseen a fantastic period for English cricket since being appointed in October 2004.

International Success 

During the last decade, England recaptured the Ashes in 2005, for the first time since 1986/87, won The Ashes on another three occasions, lifted the World T20 trophy in the Carribean and had a spell as the World's number one ranked Test team.

The England Women's team have also enjoyed huge success having won Ashes battles of their own and, this year, they also reached the final of their own World T20 tournament. They have also turned professional which is a huge step for women's cricket and its future development.

Domestic

Domestically Collier has helped oversee the introduction of the hugely entertaining and popular T20 cricket and negotiated the many lurative contracts that are associated with this type of cricket.

There have also been changes to the structure of the County Championship and this year the launch of the new Royal London Cup.

Many of England's International grounds have also undergone improvements over the last decade and the ECB now have an abundance of Test match and One-Day venues to choose from when they select fixtures each summer.

Collier's, and the ECB's, input to these changes have been vital.

Controversy 

Despite overseeing such a successful period of English cricket, Collier will also be remembered for negotiating with the American billionaire Alan Stanford for a one-off T20 match against the West Indies where the winner was treated to a huge pay day.

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Stanford was later jailed after being found guilty of defrauding his investors. Although England lost the match, Collier must be commended for his negotiating skills but English cricket, in hindsight, have now distanced themselves from the convicted fraudster.

The fifty-nine year old had previously been chief executive of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Gloucestershire before taking up his role with the ECB.

Stability

English cricket is undergoing a number of changes and Collier's departure is yet another to occur in the past few months.

As well as a new coach in Peter Moores and numerous changes in players, Paul Downton was also appointed as managing director, so the ECB are going through a transitional period that will need time to settle down.

Collier leaves a fantastic legacy, but the ECB now have new challenges and will need to appoint the right man to take them forward over the next few years.

They are looking for a period of stability, particularly as the England men's team strive for improvements, and victories, having not won a Test match since August last year, losing six of their eight games.