Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting held in Dubai has taken the major decision of conducting a complete constitutional review of the radical changes brought about by the ‘Big Three’ (India, Australia and England) in 2014. The changes initiated by N. Srinivasan, the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the chairman of the ICC, to wrest control over the ICC using money and power shook the edifice of the world cricket body.
Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president who is also currently serving as ICC chairman, has thus thwarted all the changes overseen by his predecessor Srinivasan and made the world cricket body democratic, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest and to follow best practice principles of good governance. The board decision will see the removal of permanent positions for India, England and Australia on the Executive Committee and the Financial & Commercial Affairs Committee, which are the ICC’s two most powerful forums.
Through a statement, the ICC announced: “The board agreed to carry out a complete review of the 2014 resolutions and constitutional changes with a view to establishing governance, finance, corporate and cricketing structures that are appropriate and effective for the strategic role and function of the ICC and all of its members.”
The board has also recommended that the ICC’s chairman post should be an independent post and hence the next ICC chairman, to be elected later this year, will no longer be able to hold a position on their home board. Both Srinivasan before and Manohar now have held dual positions.
With an aim to improve relationships with the Members and cricket stakeholders from around the world, the Board decided that three of the four meetings of the year will take place in Member countries outside of the UAE.
A change has been made to the qualification process for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup. It was agreed that the 10 Test playing countries and the highest-placed Associate team from the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016 will qualify directly for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2018, which will be staged in New Zealand from January 12 - February 4, 2018. The remaining five sides will qualify through the regional qualifying tournaments.
The ICC has also reinstated Sri Lanka Cricket’s full membership after their board was stripped of its voting rights at the ICC table in April last year, when the ICC took a strong view of a politically appointed board in Sri Lanka.