Announced to coincide with England's last match of a dismal 2015 Cricket World Cup, against Afghanistan, Collier's appointment represents something of a coup for the RLIF at the approximate mid-point between the Rugby League World Cups of 2013 and 2017.

RLIF chairman Nigel Wood said the body was "delighted to have appointed a chief executive with 30 years' experience of leading a number of the world's leading sports organisations".

The RLIF Board, which was unanimous in its choice of the 59-year-old Englishman, was, Wood said, looking forward to "working with our new chief executive to ensure the success of the global expansion of our sport".

Collier, whose CV includes spells in the airline and computer sectors as well as a number of English county cricket clubs, retired from the ECB at the end of the 2014 season after an eventful decade in the hot-seat.

He arrived just two months before the announcement of the controversial, if understandable, decision to sell exclusive rights to the live broadcast of home international and domestic cricket in England and Wales, initially for four years, to pay television company Sky Sports.

England won the 2005 Ashes Series against Australia during David Collier's stint as the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive ©Getty Images



But his ECB stint also included the electric 2005 Ashes Series between England and Australia, won by England, coming from behind, and widely regarded as the best and most gripping Test match series ever.

Collier, who takes up his new appointment next month and will be based in London, said he was "honoured" by the opportunity to lead the sport of rugby league.

His first priority would be to "meet with the broadest possible range of stakeholders, to develop and commence delivery of our strategic plan and to create an international calendar which reflects the strength of our club competitions throughout the world and the success of the World Cup".

Rugby league is, he added, "one of the most exciting sports in the world and the enthusiasm of the crowds and television audiences at the recent World Cup demonstrates the great opportunity which we have to further expand and develop".

The sport has this year enjoyed a welcome burst of mainstream publicity after Hollywood actor Russell Crowe's South Sydney Rabbitohs last month lifted the 2015 World Club Challenge.