Chief executive Chris Doig has resigned from New Zealand Cricket, saying he wants to take up a new challenge after five years in the job.
Doig will leave about the end of next month to become principal of a new Britain-based company, Sporting Frontiers NZ.
He told the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) board meeting yesterday that he had had enough and was resigning.
His sports management company will be involved in sponsorship, event, sport and arts management in New Zealand.
His early days with NZC were embroiled in controversy as he oversaw Glenn Turner's departure as national team coach. Some experts believed Turner received a raw deal.
As an international opera singer, Doig faced jibes from critics who said a singer should not be running cricket in New Zealand.
He said five years was about the right length of time to stay in the top post and NZC was in better shape than when he started, annual turnover having risen from $6.9 million to $22 million.
NZC chairman Sir John Anderson said the academy and high-performance centre at Lincoln was Doig's greatest legacy.
Sub-committees of the governing body will be busy in the coming months finding replacements for Doig and David Trist, the Black Caps' coach who pulls out of the job this year.
Doig said he had loved his time as chief executive with an "abiding passion."
The Black Caps' first four-test series triumph in England, the ICC Trophy knockout one-day win in Kenya and the 7-0 series hiding dished out to the West Indies were the performance highlights of his tenure.
Doig said it was his request to leave sooner rather than later.
"I do not want to leave NZC in a difficult position.
"We are hoping I can leave towards the end of March.
"I have a passion for the arts and I'll look forward to getting back into that."
Sir John said a small gap of some weeks or months was to be expected before a replacement could be found.
"The board regret Chris leaving NZC. We wish him extremely well.
"Chris has made tremendous progress in the leadership role and we can now take another step forward.
"We will be looking for someone who is very commercial and who has the same passion for cricket. He has to be hard-nosed and have leadership skills.
"We don't want a cricketer. We want someone with business skills," Sir John said.
Doig revealed his decision on the eve of the Black Caps' toughest challenge of the year - a home series against World Cup finalists Pakistan.
He said the game was in good heart despite recent losses against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
"There were only two international trophies up for grabs in the world of cricket in the last year and New Zealand won both of them - the ICC knockout trophy and the women's World Cup.
"The under-19 team reached the final of the World Cup and they won the test series against South Africa 2-0, which emphasises there is very good work being done in NZ cricket."
- NZPA
Cricket: Chief Doig stepping out after five years
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