'Liars' leave Soper fuming at ECB defeat

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Soper (pictured right) yesterday resigned as deputy chairman of the ECB after losing out to the Somerset chairman by 12 votes to six in the second ballot between the men to succeed David Morgan, who is becoming president of the International Cricket Council.

The first ballot was tied 9-9, with Northants abstaining.

Clarke's nomination by the 18 counties and MCC — one county again abstained — will now be rubber-stamped by the full ECB membership next month, leaving the highly respected Soper to launch a stinging rebuke on the men who made the decision.

'The past few weeks have saddened me,' said Soper, formerly the Surrey chairman. 'Nine county chairmen told me to my face that they were supporting me and I have now found that three individuals have, in fact, lied.

'I can't represent the game at the highest level while people do not honour their word. It has never been my way because I've always believed in the maxim "my word is my bond".'

Clarke, 53, the founder of the Majestic wine warehouses, has made his mark at the ECB as chairman of the marketing committee. He was the man responsible for taking cricket away from terrestrial television when he awarded Sky exclusive coverage of the game in a highly lucrative deal in 2004.

And what could well have swung the vote his way this time was the recent £40million windfall the game enjoyed from Clarke's deal with ESPN to show English cricket in Asia.