PCA expands Non-Executive Board

The Professional Cricketers’ Association has announced five new additions to the Non-Executive Board of Directors.

Following a PCA Board Meeting on Tuesday 6 December, Caroline Artis, Hannah Bowe, Siobhan Newmarch and Professor Swaran Preet Singh join Simone Pound, who officially took up her post in September 2022, as appointments as Non-Executive Directors.

The PCA moved to strengthen its Board following consultation with the current playing Board. The PCA instructed Perrett Laver to conduct the seven-month process that led to the outstanding candidates joining the Board.

Each individual brings extensive experience in their respective areas of expertise and will assist the Board and executive in providing the highest level of services to the PCA membership in the ever-changing landscape in cricket.

In addition to the new joiners, former England international and current broadcaster, Isa Guha, has stepped down from the Board following over five years’ service. Guha provided invaluable knowledge and insights to the PCA Board, specifically in the creation of the England Women’s Player Partnership in 2017 and the EDI Working Group in 2020. The PCA is delighted that Guha has agreed to remain a member of the EWPP Management Board.

Introducing newly appointed PCA Board Members:

A former Partner at London Ernst & Young, Artis led the strategy and delivery for over 10,000 people at the London business for 10 years. Sitting on the UK&I leadership team, she set and implemented the firm wide strategy and held positions on the Risk Committee.

A leading strategist at EY, Artis led the development of the hybrid working model and was part of a team that created opportunities to advance women and BME staff into leadership roles.

A keen follower of sport, Artis became the first ever female trustee at Ealing Cricket Club in 2018 and is also the Chair of Finance and Audit Committee of Catch-22, a social business with a turnover of £50m+.

A former international hockey player for Ireland, Bowe is a Chartered Accountant with Big 4 M&A experience.

She moved from finance into sport where she took a role with a top global talent management agency in rugby, overseeing their consulting and commercial operations.

There she built an industry-innovating data analytics platform to optimise and inform recruitment practices within professional rugby.

Currently managing acquisitions at Sky Sports for some of the UK’s top tier rights, she is also the Non-Executive Chair of England Lacrosse.

Newmarch joins the PCA as a senior strategic communications professional with experience across consultancy, FTSE 100, NASDAQ, and public sector. She currently leading external communications and engagement for GoDaddy, EMEA.

With 20 years’ experience devising and managing integrated communication strategies, running crisis communications, briefing senior leaders, and producing strategic solutions to communicate complex issues. Newmarch has worked across communications – leading PR campaigns alongside campaigning, public affairs, and internal communications.

She is also a Trustee for The Secret Space charity in Hertfordshire and has a strong interest in cricket, having previously spent a decade working for working for the BBC, including eight years with BBC Sport.

Professor Swaran Preet Singh is a highly respected leader, academic and clinician in the world of psychiatry and mental health. With a particular focus on Early Intervention in Psychosis, transition from adolescent to adult mental health care leading to the development of NICE Guidelines, and Youth Mental Health research which informed policy and practice in the UK and overseas.

Through a breadth of Non-Executive Director roles, he brings extensive networks across the private, public and third sectors, deep knowledge of the workings of government, organisational and cultural change. He has been recognised for his successful innovations on diversity and inclusion and productivity and mental health.

He is also a recipient of the NHS Clinical Excellence Gold Award and Save our Children/Sikh Aid international, UK Excellence Award for services to children and young people.

Working for the Professional Footballers’ Association since 2000, Pound has supported the development of the women’s game over the past two decades. As well as a champion of women’s football, she has written and implemented award-winning EDI workshops and education programmes and has been instrumental in addressing the abuse of athletes on social media with police and social media platforms.

Now a key figure in English football as the PFA’s Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Pound is also an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card and sits on the Kick It Out Board as a Trustee. She also advises the FIFPRO Board as a part of the FIFPRO EDI Committee.

In the summer of 2020, she was a founding member of the PCA’s EDI Working Group and has provided her knowledge and experience on all areas of EDI to the PCA ever-since.

PCA Chair, James Harris, said:

“I am delighted to welcome the additions to the PCA Board. All five individuals will bring significant experience to the Association.

“The calibre of all appointments speaks volumes for how the PCA is viewed and as Chair I am eager to work closely with each individual who will bring an enormous amount to the Board.

“Leading the Players’ Committee, it is vital the Non-Executive Board has a structure to support the needs of the players, executive and staff and I feel the new directors will prove to be invaluable to the association.”

PCA Non-Executive Chair, Julian Metherell, said:

“I welcome all five individuals to the PCA Board and look forward to working with them to progress the work of the PCA for the benefit of all its members.

“Cricket is evolving at a rapid pace and it is critical we have a group of Non-Executive Directors with the requisite skills, knowledge and experience to assist the executive and the Players’ Committee in navigating the opportunities and challenges the game faces.

“I would also like to thank Isa Guha for her magnificent support over the past five years. Her dedication to all aspects of the PCA’s work has been exemplary and she will be sorely missed.”