Former player returns as cricket club’s chief executive
The new chief executive of Worcestershire County Cricket Club plans to put his own spin on things after beating 130 applicants to the job.
Matt Rawnsley made 100 appearances as a left-arm spinner for the county over an eight-year professional career before entering the world of business in 2003.
He has spent nearly five years as the European managing director for manufacturer Barnes Group and will start work at the cricket club on March 1.
Rawnsley succeeds Tom Scott, whose departure was announced in September. His immediate priorities include finding a replacement for director of cricket Steve Rhodes, who left in December after an investigation into his conduct that reportedly centred around his failure to act on rape allegations against first-team player Alex Hepburn.
Worcestershire chairman Stephen Taylor, who headed the five-strong appointment panel said: “We believe Matt is the right man for the CEO post and he brings very relevant commercial experience, as well as strong cricket experience as a former player of the club.
“Matt inherits an exciting team and a club well set to continue to grow – on and off the pitch. The future is exciting in all areas of this great cricket club and we feel Matt can help us to continue to grow.”
Worcestershire will play the coming season in division one, having been promoted in September. It will be the county’s seventh season in division one in the 19 years since the county championship split into two – however they have only avoided relegation once in the six previous attempts.
