Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will face a challenge for his job in the aftermath of the controversy that led to Kevin Pietersen being ousted as captain, the ECB confirmed Tuesday.
Clarke, who has chaired the ECB since September 2007, is being challenged for the post by businessman/politician Jonathan Marland. Chairmen of the 18 first class counties and the MCC will vote on who gets the job next month.
Marland, 52, is a member of the House of Lords and a former treasurer of the opposition Conservative party.
His chances of victory are seen as depending on the extent to which the county chairmen believe Clarke mishandled the clash between former coach Peter Moores and Pietersen which resulted in Moores being dismissed and Pietersen being effectively stripped of the captaincy earlier this month.
Clarke has also been criticised for sanctioning England's participation in last year's winner-takes-all Stanford Twenty20 tournament in Antigua.
Marland has billed himself as a unifying candidate, saying at the weekend that, "there are deep schisms within the game which need to be healed."