ICC decides to revoke special status of ‘Big Three’

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) borad has decided to revoke the special status of ‘Big Three’ – BCCI, CA and ECB – and will try to reestablish the ‘independent’ position of its chairman at the earliest.

The decisions were made at the ICC Board’s first meeting of 2016, held at the ICC Headquarters here on Wednesday.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, the board considered amendments that had been made to the ICC’s constitution in 2014 and agreed that, in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest and to follow best practice principles of good governance, it would seek to reestablish as quickly as possible the ‘independent’ position of ICC chairman.

The ICC board unanimously agreed to propose to the full council that a new chairman should be elected by the board for a two-year term starting from June this year through a secret balloting process overseen by the council’s independent audit committee chairman.

“While in the office, the ICC Chairman will not be allowed to hold any post with any Member Board and may be re-elected at the expiry of the term with a maximum limit of three terms,” said the statement.

In order to qualify to contest the election, it was agreed that all nominees must be either a past or present ICC board director and should have the support of at least two full member directors.

The board also agreed to approve changes to the terms of reference of the Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee and Executive Committee in a bid to remove the permanent positions for the nominees of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on these committees.

The ICC will allow fair access to membership for all full and associate member directors, with the sole criteria being the skill, competence and experience of the relevant director.

The present composition of the committees will be reviewed in their entirety in June 2016, it said.

Moreover, the ICC board also 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 directed that the ICC’s constitution be reviewed in its entirety and urged all members to provide feedback on the issue to the management during the next few weeks.

ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar constituted a five-member steering group, which he will will lead and also include the respective chairmen of the ICC’s governance review committee, executive committee, finance & commercial affairs committee and associate/affiliate member group, and will be supported by various members of ICC management.

The steering group will report on progress at the April 2016 meeting, with a view to putting forward any required changes to the meetings during the ICC Annual Conference week in June 2016.

In a further attempt to improve the governance standards of, and transparency within, member boards, the ICC board agreed to reinstate a previous requirement that full members must submit to the ICC their latest audited statements on an annual basis, as is already the case with all associate and affiliate members.

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.

“This year’s ICC Annual Conference will take place in Edinburgh from 27 June to 2 July, while venues for the April and October meetings will be announced in due course.”

Shashank Manohar was quoted as saying: “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.

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.”