It’s a Snowball at Warwickshire as cricket club unveils new chief executive
WARWICKSHIRE County Cricket Club has unveiled the man who will succeed retiring chief executive Colin Povey when he steps down next month.
The club, one of the most successful in county cricket, has looked to continue its strong record with the appointment of one of the men who helped to mastermind the recent Rugby World Cup.
Neil Snowball is currently Chief Operating Officer of England Rugby 2015 Ltd, which was the Organising Committee for the Rugby World Cup 2015.
In his role he was responsible for all aspects of tournament delivery including match venues, host cities, team services, security, transport and technology as well as managing multiple stakeholder partnerships.
Prior to his current role, Snowball was Head of Sport Operations at the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) where he was responsible for service delivery and operational management for the 26 Olympic and 20 Paralympic sports, and 45 competition venues.
Before joining LOCOG, he served in the business community as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, for whom he worked for eight years.
A life-long cricket fan, he will commence his new role as chief executive at Edgbaston in January.
He not a stranger to the game, having been involved with Guildford Cricket Club for many years, as a player, coach and administrator, including three years as chairman of the club and of the Guildford Cricket Festival.
He also has a long association with Surrey County Cricket Club and in 2012 was invited to be a member of the Surrey CCC Business Advisory Group, and also served on the Surrey Championship committee.
However, he has big boots to fill and will be succeeding a man who has overseen one of the dramatic periods in Warwickshire’s history.
During his tenure, Povey has helped to steer the club to success both on the field and off it, most notably with the £20m redevelopment of the ground in 2011 and the development of Edgbaston into one of the finest cricket stadiums in the world.
Announcing the new appointment, Warwickshire CCC chairman, Norman Gascoigne, said: “Neil was the outstanding candidate for the role. He will bring a wealth of relevant experience as the club strives for greater success on and off the field, building on the outstanding platform created under the leadership of Colin Povey. I am delighted to welcome Neil to Warwickshire.”
Snowball, who will relocate to the West Midlands from Surrey, said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as Warwickshire’s chief executive, joining a club with not only a proud and successful history but with a clear ambition for the future. The strength of the playing squad as evidenced by performances over the last five years and the world class facilities at Edgbaston offer enormous opportunity in the years ahead.”
