The two-month battle for the leadership of the ECB ended in bitter recrimination yesterday after Giles Clarke, the thrusting entrepreneur from Somerset, had defeated Michael Soper, the unifying deputy chairman, by 12 votes to six in a second ballot.

Assuming that his nomination is endorsed by the full membership of the ECB, Clarke, 54, will take over as chairman from David Morgan, who is about to become president of the ICC, next month, while Soper has already announced his resignation, accusing three unnamed county chairmen of lying to his face.

Soper, 61, was the clear favourite in a two-horse race when it began in July but the first ballot ended in deadlock, with the chairmen of the 18 first-class counties plus the MCC split 9-9 with one abstention.

Lord Morris, the former trade union leader and an independent member of the ECB, then announced his intention to stand but soon withdrew, leaving Clarke and Soper to go head-to-head once more. This time the result was decisive.

Soper, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1991 but believes that he has at least four years to live and described the job as his “final ambition”, found the result hard to take. “It is with great regret that I am tendering my resignation as deputy chairman of the ECB,” he said. “Over the last five years I have endeavoured to unite this great game of ours and bring a sense of balance and fair play to both the Test match grounds and the non-Test match grounds.

“The last few weeks have saddened me in that nine county chairmen told me to my face that they were supporting me. I have now found that three nameless individuals have, in fact, lied. I cannot represent the game at the highest level while people do not honour their word.”

Soper, who first stood for the chairmanship in 1997 but lost to Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, had admitted that he was complacent in his approach to the first ballot and vowed to be more proactive in the second one, telling the counties about his record in business, his success as chairman of Surrey for eight years and his views on all the big issues in the game.

He was still not as proactive as Clarke, though. He had begun the contest as a controversial figure who, as chairman of the ECB marketing committee, negotiated the £220 million deal that took live coverage of home Test series off terrestrial television.

Since the first ballot, though, he had also brokered another substantial deal with ESPN Star Sports that gives it exclusive television coverage of English cricket in South Asia and that, plus the promise of more money to come, clearly seduced the county chairmen at the end of one of the wettest summers they have known.

Clarke is expected to outline his vision for the future at Lord’s today and Richard Gould, his chief executive at Somerset, is sure that the ECB has got the right man. “He’s been here for five years and this is a natural progression for him,” he said.

Mike Watkinson, the Lancashire cricket manager, has re-emerged as the front-runner to become the ECB’s performance director in succession to Peter Moores, the England team head coach. Ric Charlesworth, the former Australia hockey player and Western Australia batsman, was the preferred choice, but he is understood to have rejected the job. An appointment is expected within a week.The two-month battle for the leadership of the ECB ended in bitter recrimination yesterday after Giles Clarke, the thrusting entrepreneur from Somerset, had defeated Michael Soper, the unifying deputy chairman, by 12 votes to six in a second ballot.

Assuming that his nomination is endorsed by the full membership of the ECB, Clarke, 54, will take over as chairman from David Morgan, who is about to become president of the ICC, next month, while Soper has already announced his resignation, accusing three unnamed county chairmen of lying to his face.

Soper, 61, was the clear favourite in a two-horse race when it began in July but the first ballot ended in deadlock, with the chairmen of the 18 first-class counties plus the MCC split 9-9 with one abstention.

Lord Morris, the former trade union leader and an independent member of the ECB, then announced his intention to stand but soon withdrew, leaving Clarke and Soper to go head-to-head once more. This time the result was decisive.

Soper, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1991 but believes that he has at least four years to live and described the job as his “final ambition”, found the result hard to take. “It is with great regret that I am tendering my resignation as deputy chairman of the ECB,” he said. “Over the last five years I have endeavoured to unite this great game of ours and bring a sense of balance and fair play to both the Test match grounds and the non-Test match grounds.

“The last few weeks have saddened me in that nine county chairmen told me to my face that they were supporting me. I have now found that three nameless individuals have, in fact, lied. I cannot represent the game at the highest level while people do not honour their word.”

Soper, who first stood for the chairmanship in 1997 but lost to Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, had admitted that he was complacent in his approach to the first ballot and vowed to be more proactive in the second one, telling the counties about his record in business, his success as chairman of Surrey for eight years and his views on all the big issues in the game.

He was still not as proactive as Clarke, though. He had begun the contest as a controversial figure who, as chairman of the ECB marketing committee, negotiated the £220 million deal that took live coverage of home Test series off terrestrial television.

Since the first ballot, though, he had also brokered another substantial deal with ESPN Star Sports that gives it exclusive television coverage of English cricket in South Asia and that, plus the promise of more money to come, clearly seduced the county chairmen at the end of one of the wettest summers they have known.

Clarke is expected to outline his vision for the future at Lord’s today and Richard Gould, his chief executive at Somerset, is sure that the ECB has got the right man. “He’s been here for five years and this is a natural progression for him,” he said.

Mike Watkinson, the Lancashire cricket manager, has re-emerged as the front-runner to become the ECB’s performance director in succession to Peter Moores, the England team head coach. Ric Charlesworth, the former Australia hockey player and Western Australia batsman, was the preferred choice, but he is understood to have rejected the job. An appointment is expected within a week.

Explore Cricket

• Counties