Any future chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will be unable to hold a position within one of the governing body’s member associations as part of a series of governance reforms, which were passed as expected during a meeting of the organisation’s Board in Dubai.
The move comes in a bid to avoid any potential conflict of interest, which forced Narayanaswami Srinivasan to stand down as President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2014.
It followed the Supreme Court of India finding him guilty of having a conflict of interest, with his India Cements company owning the Indian Premier League team the Chennai Super Kings.
The new ruling will mean anyone who wishes to stand for the chairmanship of the ICC must leave any role within any Member Association in order to be eligible.
England and Wales Cricket Board President Giles Clarke is reportedly weighing up an attempt to become the head of the governing body when the election takes place in June but he will now have to relinquish his current position if he is to enter the race.
The ICC also agreed to limit the powers of the “big three” – England, India and Australia – by removing their rights to a permanent seat on the 13-member Board, effectively granting the supposed lesser nations a bigger say in the body.
Under the new rules, they will not be given a permanent position on the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee and Executive Committees, with the present composition of the committees due to be reviewed in June of this year.
Two years ago, England, Australia and India were given more weight within the organisation after the ICC voted through changes which saw them receive the majority of the sport’s income.
A potential attempt to get cricket included at both the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games was also discussed, with the ICC admitting it was a “complex issue with a diverse range of views and factors to be taken into account and that further work was required before a final position could be adopted”.
Cricket has not featured at the Olympics since 1900 but was a part of the 1998 Commonwealth Games programme in Kuala Lumpur.
Following several match fixing scandals in the sport of late, the ICC Board agreed to establish a five-member Anti-Corruption Oversight Group, made up of former India captain Rahul Dravid, legal expert Louis Weston and independent anti-corruption adviser John Abbott.
Anti-Corruption Unit head Sir Ronnie Flanagan and ICC chief executive David Richardson will serve as ex-officio members of the group.
The meeting was the first chaired by ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, who took over from Srinivasan last year after the BCCI nominated him as their representative in world cricket’s governing body.
“We had very purposeful and positive meetings, and the decisions taken clearly reflect that we collectively want to improve the governance in a transparent manner, not only of the ICC but also the member boards,” Manohar said.
“This, in turn, will enhance the image and quality of the sport.
“No member of the ICC is bigger than the other and I am determined to make a meaningful contribution in this regard with support of all the members.”
- By Liam Morgan Republished with permission insidethegames.biz