Rob Lynch, the CEO of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), will leave his position in June to become the head of cricket operations at MCC.
Lynch has been employed by the players’ union since October 2020. He competed for New Zealand at the Under-19 World Cup in 2000. Following Tony Irish’s retirement in July 2020, he assumed an interim CEO position after serving as the PCA’s commercial director since February 2020.
Lynch was the chief operations officer of Middlesex when he joined the PCA. He will serve a notice period until June 28 and then return to Lord’s to assume his new role at MCC. Prior to a permanent appointment, Lynch will be temporarily covered by former Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell, who is presently the PCA’s COO.
Throughout his time there, Lynch has been a vital voice opposing a domestic schedule that is “unsustainable” and endangers player welfare. Lynch also assisted the PCA in navigating through the pandemic. Lynch additionally appeared in a 2022 parliamentary session, where he acknowledged shortcomings on behalf of the PCA following Azeem Rafiq’s criticism of the union as “incredibly inept” for not standing by him in response to his claims of racism at Yorkshire.
Lynch added, “Being the CEO of the PCA has been the greatest privilege and challenge of my career,” in a statement issued by the organisation. I will always treasure the opportunity to represent the players, and the association is well-funded and positioned to grow as the game changes quickly.
“The growth of the women’s game and equitable advancements, alongside the broader EDI perspective has brought immense and much needed challenge, with the PCA and player knowledge much better for this.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working closely with the players and the wider game to progress standards for the benefit of our members.
“Thank you to everybody I have worked so closely with, including our Chair James Harris, Julian Metherell and James Cameron, the board, Richard Bevan, Eoin Morgan and importantly the most-dedicated group of staff I have witnessed in my professional career, they are a credit to PCA members and will no doubt continue to drive exceptionally high standards when I depart in late June.”
Lynch, who played for the MCC and was a Young Cricketer in the 2000 season, will take over at Lord’s once Jamie Cox leaves to become the new chief executive of Somerset. In addition to managing the MCC’s cricket departments, the director of cricket operations was responsible for the club’s global responsibilities, which included being the custodian of the MCC World Cricket Committee and the Laws of Cricket.
Matchday operations will also be included and will start right away. With the opening men’s Test match of the summer between England and the West Indies starting at Lord’s on July 10, Lynch formally takes on his duties in July.
Guy Lavender, chief executive and secretary of MCC, stated: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Rob back to MCC after a rigorous hiring process. Rob stood out from the other exceptionally talented individuals who applied for the position.
“With cricket’s ever-changing landscape, we are very fortunate to be appointing an individual who has such deep experience of the operations in the game, on and off the field. Rob is no stranger to Lord’s and the structure of MCC, meaning he can hit the ground running as we embark on another busy summer.
“I would like to thank Jamie Cox for his huge contribution to MCC over the past three years. He has led on numerous projects during that time, including our cricket strategy and I wish him the best for an exciting role at Somerset. I am certain he will make a success of it.”