The England and Wales Cricket Board on Sunday confirmed the appointment of Robert Key as the Managing Director of their men's cricket team. The appointment was made following a rigorous recruitment process. Now, Key will relinquish his current role with Sky Sports as a broadcaster. Key will now be responsible for the strategy behind the England Men's cricket teams and the performance pathways leading into them. He will also take a key role as part of the High-Performance Review and it will shortly begin.
"It is an absolute honour to take up this role. The chance to have an impact and make a difference is an opportunity given to very few and I will give it everything I have to try shape the next great era of English Men's cricket," Key said in an official release issued by ECB.
"Although at this current moment it has been a challenging time in English cricket, I also think it's as exciting a time as I can remember. With two of our teams near or at the top of the world rankings and an undoubted amount of talent in our game, I hope to try and bring everyone along for the ride so we can all help take English Men's cricket to new heights across all formats," he added.
Prior to the appointment, Sir Andrew Strauss had undertaken the role on an interim basis following Ashley Giles' departure in February after three years.
A former England cricketer, Key is a hugely respected figure in the game. Key has played 21 times for England across all three formats and he made a Test double hundred against the West Indies at Lord's in 2004 and it led to him being named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2005.
During a playing career that spanned three decades (1998-2015), Key registered over 28,000 runs with 60 centuries. He captained Kent twice from 2006-2012 and then again from 2014-15.
He was also part of the England side that won the Under-19 World Cup for the first and only time in 1998.