Departing England Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke chose one of the most prestigious cricket occasions of the year , the Wisden Almanack launch , to make a complete fool of himself . Clarke , despite his standing as one of world cricket ’ s big powerbrokers who will continue with his deputy chairmanship of the ICC , embarrassed VIP guests with his astonishing behaviour at the Lord ’ s Pavilion Long Room dinner . Clarke arrived upset that the new ECB regime had just sacked his England managing director appointment , Paul Downton , whom he had rashly called a ‘ man of great judgment ’ . Departing ECB chairman Giles Clarke made a fool of himself during the Wisden Almanack launch . Clarke confronted guest speaker Ehsan Mani and Sportsmail 's Lawrence Booth during the dinner . He was further annoyed that Lawrence Booth ’ s Wisden editor notes had been scathing of the way the ECB on Clarke ’ s watch had botched the axing of Kevin Pietersen while operating a ‘ nexus of self-preservation ’ . And Clarke finally lost the plot when eloquent guest speaker Ehsan Mani of Pakistan , the former president of ICC , outlined his understandable concern for the future of world cricket as a result of the financial and power carve-up by Clarke ’ s England , Australia and India . After Mani had finished speaking Clarke loudly harangued Wisden editor Booth across the table — in front of England all-rounder Moeen Ali , former fast bowler Devon Malcolm and ECB chief executive Tom Harrison . England cricketer Moeen Ali witnessed the incident at the Lord ’ s Pavilion Long Room dinner . Clarke was furious Mani ’ s ‘ disgraceful ’ address had made no mention of ICC ’ s Test match contingency fund and also had strong objections to Wisden ’ s opinions . Yet Clarke had been granted a two-page platform in last year ’ s almanack to explain his ICC strategy . Clarke then confronted Mani about his speech and had another go at Booth before storming out of the Long Room in high dudgeon . Mani said : ‘ I ’ m very used to Giles being utterly irrational . He always thinks it ’ s just about him when there ’ s a far bigger picture of three countries sharing 52 per cent of income between them. ’ To complete the farce , Clarke ’ s nomination was supported by the ECB board on Thursday for him to become the first ECB president . Sky ban Henry for AP . Sky Sports have refused to allow their pundit Thierry Henry to present AP McCoy with his record 20th champion jump jockey title at Sandown on April 25 , where the great AP could ride for the last time . Racing officials had asked Henry , who immediately agreed due to the esteem McCoy is held in by fellow sportsmen and because he is a big Arsenal fan to boot . But Sky have withdrawn Henry because the race meeting is being broadcast on Channel 4 . A Sky spokesman said the Henry approach had not been made through the right channels . Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry ( centre ) will not be allowed to appear on Channel 4 's racing coverage . Henry had agreed to present Arsenal supporter Jockey AP McCoy with his 20th champion jump jockey title . Clare Balding is snubbing the Grand National to present the women ’ s Boat Race on BBC . And after a Royal Ascot farewell , C4 Racing don ’ t expect to work with Balding again . They believe she is now more focused on writing books , with a children ’ s fiction story her next commission . Presenter Clare Balding will present the women 's Boat Race on BBC rather than the Grand National . With even former England batting coach Graham Gooch saying the Kevin Pietersen camp had wiped the floor with the ECB in the PR battle over KP ’ s banishment , it was depressing that new CEO Tom Harrison shows no sign of being more helpful with the media . When asked for a word as he left the Wisden dinner about his earlier axing of Paul Downton , he refused to break stride , merely stating : ‘ We ’ ve said all we want to say. ’ The Harrison regime have promised to stop leaks coming out of Lord ’ s , yet Sky Sports had a satellite truck and reporter in position at Lord ’ s for the unexpected Downton announcement and a correspondent ready to report live from St Kitts . Paul Downton has left his role as managing director of England and Wales Cricket Board . Former Ashes-winning England captains Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss are the obvious choices for the newly created job of director of England after the sacking of Paul Downton . But the ECB work in mysterious ways , such as paying for David Parsons , the ECB performance director , to go on the part-time masters course in sporting directorship at Manchester ’ s Metropolitan University which Lancashire coach Ashley Giles is also on . Michael Vaughan ( right ) and Andrew Strauss ( left ) are among the contenders to replace Downton .
Giles Clarke embarrassed guests during Wisden Almanack launch dinner . The departing ECB chairman was not happy with Paul Downton 's dismissal . Sky Sports have blocked Thierry Henry from appearing on Channel 4 . TL;DR England captain Alastair Cook has been left out of the squad for a one-day international against Pakistan in Dubai this week because he is still recovering from an ankle injury.