New independent Chair of Cricket Discipline Panel appointed

Richard Whittam KC has been appointed as Chair of the Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP), the new independent tribunal which will hear and adjudicate on cases of alleged regulatory breaches in professional cricket, and decide what sanctions are appropriate for any breaches that are found to have occurred.

Richard is a specialist regulatory and criminal barrister who will continue to practice from Matrix Chambers. He was a Deputy High Court Judge between 2016 and 2022.

Richard was appointed as the Rugby Football Union’s Head of Independent Judiciary last year. He has chaired discipline, safeguarding and appeal panels in rugby union since 2014. Richard is also a member of the Word Rugby and European Professional Club Rugby Judicial Panels.

The CDP’s function will be to consider cases brought before it by the Cricket Regulator, the body responsible for monitoring compliance with and enforcement of adherence to the game’s regulations on behalf of the ECB.

This new appointment by the ECB Board is for a four-year term following an open recruitment process. Richard will be responsible for presiding over specific disciplinary cases, appointing the other members of the CDP, and allocating those individuals to hear specific cases.

He is now recruiting members to join the CDP, with an appropriate range of skills and diversity. An open recruitment process for these roles is now under way.

Richard Whittam KC said: “I am delighted to be appointed to this important role. It is vital to the integrity of cricket that the sport’s rules and regulations are upheld. As the first Chair of the CDP I look forward to getting the Panel up and running and ensuring that cases are dealt with promptly, in a fair, thorough and transparent manner.”

Most cases which will come before the Panel relate to a breach of the ECB’s Professional Conduct Regulations, which contain various misconduct offences including bringing the game into disrepute (which gives rise to broad and varied cases).

However, the Panel, and the Chair in particular, also has a role to play in relation to other Regulations, including the Anti-Corruption Code, Player and Match Officials’ Minimum Standards, cricket Playing Conditions, Bowling Review Regulations, Pitch Regulations and Head Protector Regulations.

Richard Thompson, ECB Chair, said: “The independent Cricket Discipline Panel will play an important role in enforcing cricket’s regulations and dealing with any misconduct and regulatory breaches. Richard Whittam KC has an impressive background in law and sports discipline which makes him the ideal person to chair the Panel.”

Once the remainder of the panel members have been appointed, the Cricket Discipline Panel will begin considering cases, taking over this role from the current Cricket Discipline Commission, which is chaired by Tim O’Gorman.

Mr Thompson added: “I’d like to pass on my sincere thanks to Tim O’Gorman and all the panel members from the Cricket Discipline Commission for the service they have given the game over many years. They have performed an important duty in enforcing cricket’s regulations, and I’m grateful for their continued service while the new Cricket Discipline Panel members are recruited.”

Notes for editors

The ECB, the Cricket Regulator and the Cricket Discipline Panel

• The ECB is the governing body for cricket.
• The Cricket Regulator is the body created by the ECB in 2023 which enforces the rules for domestic professional cricket as well as working to educate participants and prevent potential breaches. The Cricket Regulator investigates and prosecutes cases but does not decide on any penalties. It is ringfenced from the rest of the ECB and investigates independently, and is overseen by the independent Regulatory Board.
• The Cricket Discipline Panel is the independent adjudication body which will hear cases when charges are brought by the Cricket Regulator. It rules on responsibility for breaches of rules and issues penalties to teams and participants. It will replace the Cricket Discipline Commission, which is the current body which hears cases.

Mr Whittam is now recruiting the remaining Cricket Discipline Panel members through an open process. The roles are being advertised here