ECB Chairman Ian Watmore is to step down after serving only 13 months of a five-year term.
The ECB said he had reached a “mutual agreement” with the Board to leave at the end of the domestic season.
Deputy chairman Barry O’Brien will be working on a temporary basis but will not seek to take over the post in the long run.
Watmore said: It is with regret that I step down as chair of the ECB, but I do so in mindfulness of my own wellbeing and that of the game which I love.”
He also stated, “I was appointed to the post in a pre-pandemic era, but Covid has meant the role and its demands on time are dramatically different to all our original expectations, which has taken a personal toll on me.”
“Given this, the board and I feel the ECB will be better served by a new chair to take it forward post-pandemic.”
Further noted, “Leaving now, at the end of the season, gives the board time to find a new chair to support cricket through the challenges of the 2022 season and beyond.”