England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has sacked Paul Downton as the managing director following the national team's dismal World Cup campaign.
Downton, who succeeded Hugh Morris, played an instrumental role in the sacking of former skipper Kevin Pietersen after Ashes washout in 2014 and also in the infamous sacking of Alastair Cook as one-day captain in December.
Reflecting on the decision, chief executive Tom Harrison said that the ECB needed to be accountable for reaching the standards they aspire to, the BBC reported.
Harrison insisted that the move doesn't have any links with the Pietersen's issue, saying that the decision was about the future of the game, and it was not a short-term fix to a problem.
In a bid to rebuild the team ahead of the Ashes series, the ECB is set to create a new role of 'director of England cricket'.
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