Cricket: Auckland appoint new chief executive

Auckland Cricket have stayed within in appointing their new chief executive.

Iain Laxon, formerly community cricket manager and marketing and communications manager with the association, will replace Mark Cameron, who resigned at the end of last season to become ceo at Bowls New Zealand.

It's a time of change at the head of the domestic associations, as was seen at a recent chief executives meeting, with only Otago (Mike Coggan) and Central Districts (Pete de Wet) having ceo's in place from last year.

Wellington have appointed Cam Mitchell to replace Peter Clinton; Canterbury, having lost Lee Germon to Australian Big Bash franchise the Sydney Thunder, have two acting ceos, provincial coach Gary Stead and Trudy Anderson, until their new boss, Jeremy Curwin, arrives from Somerset where he's been head of commercial operations, around the end of October; while Northern Districts are expected to make an appointment in the next fortnight to replace Peter Roach who has taken up a position at Cricket Australia.

Laxon, 45, likes the shape of the Auckland squad for the coming season.

"We've got a younger side which is going to take some time to grow and develop and emerge into a really tight unit," Laxon said.

"But we did make really good progress last year in terms of guys going up to Black Caps level which allowed us to blood a bunch of them into first-class cricket.

"That's good for the wider development around Auckland and it's a positive group of guys who are really energetic and passionate about it."