Collier lands top English cricket job

Even the much-maligned county game has been able to sing about the success of the Twenty20 competition.

But the issue of Zimbabwe - which triggered Lamb's demise - refuses to go away. And it won't just yet, either, with England having committed themselves to a controversial tour to that country in late November.

Then, closer to home, there is the matter of flagging morale inside the ECB offices at Lord's.

Lamb had not been the only high-profile departure by any means, with two other senior executives having also resigned in recent months.

Although Collier was generally seen as the favourite to replace Lamb, the fact that Bevan made the last three continues a remarkable rise for the players' best friend.

Eight years or so ago, few people inside the professional game had heard of Bevan.

Three winters back, when England's Test cricketers were wondering whether it was safe to tour India in the aftermath of 9/11, Bevan suddenly emerged as a man able and more than willing to speak on their behalf.

And, 18 months ago, then captain Nasser Hussain leant heavily on Bevan during the Zimbabwe World Cup crisis.

Indeed, the immaculately groomed official from the Professional Cricketers' Association had become so important to Hussain's squad that the strained skipper said in Cape Town: "I don't know where we would have been without Richard."

Hussain also praised him for bringing "so much professionalism to English cricket off the field".

But the idea of Bevan forming a working relationship with the ICC - and, particularly, that body's chief executive, Malcolm Speed - after the fiery meetings of last year was difficult to envisage and may have a played a part in the decision not to give him the ECB job.

Instead, it is Collier who the ECB believe is the best man to take English cricket forward.