Middlesex chair Richard Sykes to resign after three years following calls from ex-players
Richard Sykes has told the Middlesex County Cricket Club board this week that he intends to resign as chair after three years in the role, with members to be informed later this week. His decision follows repeated public calls for him to step down led by former Middlesex and England captain Mike Gatting.
Sykes’s impending departure comes after the club dismissed chief executive Andrew Cornish in June following a complaint about his alleged behaviour from a fellow member of staff, a complaint Cornish denies. The England and Wales Cricket Board’s cricket disciplinary committee is understood to have upheld misconduct charges against Cornish, but he has launched an appeal so the decision has yet to be made public. Since Cornish’s dismissal Middlesex have been run by interim chief executive Julie Harrington, who has accepted Sykes’s resignation and will lead the search for his replacement.
A group of former Middlesex players wrote an open letter on the eve of the county season in April condemning the club as "structurally a mess, is devoid of accountability and lacks proper checks and balances." The signatories included Gatting, Desmond Haynes, Mark Ramprakash, John Emburey, Mike Selvey and Clive Radley. Those ex-players also called for Sykes to resign at the club’s AGM in April, and they accused the club that "the club has been poorly led for too long," a complaint Sykes resisted at the time.
On the field Middlesex failed to secure promotion from Division Two of the County Championship for a third successive season. The county have, however, reached the One-Day Cup final and are scheduled to play Leicestershire at Trent Bridge on Sunday for a potential first trophy in 10 years.
Harrington was appointed to the interim chief executive role in July and, as a former chief executive of British Cycling and the British Horseracing Authority, has commissioned two independent reviews of the club’s governance. Sykes has accepted that the club requires fresh leadership as those reviews proceed.
The club also confirmed this month that director of cricket Alan Coleman will leave after five years at the end of the season. Middlesex continue to face long-standing financial constraints linked to a long-term tenancy at Lord’s that limits their ability to generate revenue, alongside a series of governance and disciplinary problems in recent years.
In September 2023 Middlesex were given a suspended points deduction, fined £50,000 and placed in special measures by the ECB after being found to have breached financial regulations, including the misuse of central funding. Former chief executive Richard Goatley is suing the club for more than £1m in a personal injury lawsuit, Cornish could pursue legal action for constructive dismissal, and the club’s attempt under Sykes and Cornish to secure £20m of external funding from a US group for a new west London ground was blocked by the ECB on the grounds it would breach the county partnership agreement and jeopardise central funding.
Middlesex will contest the One-Day Cup final against Leicestershire at Trent Bridge on Sunday.