Collier stands firm despite Stanford fallout

David Collier, the ECB chief executive, has said he will not resign in the wake of the Allen Stanford fiasco. Collier admitted he and ECB chairman Giles Clarke have discussed their positions but maintained they still enjoyed the support of the board.

Collier and Clarke were seen as the key people behind the board's now-terminated contracts with the Stanford group, and the pressure has been mounting on the two to quit following the charges of fraud against Stanford.

"Certainly I've discussed that with Giles but more importantly members of the board have been phoning to say we have full confidence and you must carry on," Collier told BBC Radio Five's Sportsweek. "We've looked back at all of the events and said 'what more could we have done at the time?' It's not as though we've been involved in any of the fraud that is alleged. This is another party altogether."

Collier said he had been urged to stay on. "I have been extremely heartened that many people involved in cricket - and I suppose having worked in the game for 30 years I've probably got as many contacts as anyone - have urged me to continue what they see as the immense progress we've made over the last four years," he said. "I've certainly looked back and said 'would we have been able to do things differently?' and I believe that as professionals we went through all the correct contract procedures.

"I believe therefore that I could not have done more at that time and I don't think the board could have done more. So the answer is no on that [resigning]."

The ECB severed all ties with Stanford group earlier this week after the Texan billionaire was charged with fraud in the USA. The development could see the ECB lose a potentially lucrative revenue stream, but the board assured the counties "there would be no impact on fee payments in 2009".

Clarke, who was recently re-elected as chairman, had admitted the ECB may have made an error of judgement in getting involved with Stanford.