ICC meeting: Chairman Barclay to complete his term till October, Ramiz Raja’s 4-nation tournament proposal unanimously rejected

PTI

New Delhi, April 10

The ICC board on Sunday convinced its chairman Gregor Barclay to complete his term till end of October before the global body starts its nomination process to find a new chairman where the Indian cricket board could play a massive role.

In another significant development, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja’s proposal for a four-nation tournament has been unanimously rejected by the board, putting an end to speculations of multiple India versus Pakistan matches on neural venues.

The two-day board meeting which concluded in Dubai on Sunday was a win-win one for the Indian cricket board as Barclay’s continuation till October gives it ample time to strategise whether it will field a candidate for the top post in the month of November.

“There has been no discussion on renomination of Barclay. But he will finish his current two year term as a chairman till end of October. So the process of nominating a new chairman only starts in November,” an ICC Board member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Originally, there was a possibility that the renomination or nomination would have happened in the month of June but that changed after deliberations between the member boards.

The decision also helps the BCCI buy time as they are likely to have their AGM in September after which the composition of the national parent body will be clear.

The BCCI has already appealed, seeking a few changes in the Lodha Constitution which many feel till date is practically non-implementable.

It will be interesting to see whether president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah go for a cooling-off in September.

Shah’s name is doing the rounds as the next chairman of ICC but there has been no confirmation from either the BCCI secretary himself or sources close to him about his apparent interest in throwing his hat in the ring.

Ramiz’s proposal shot down by board

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja’s ambitious proposal of conducting a four-nation tourney comprising India, Australia, England under the aegis of the ICC was unanimously rejected by the all-powerful board even though there was a projected revenue of USD 750 million for five years.

“In any case, ICC’s Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) was against this proposal. As we know that the MPA (Members Participation Agreement) doesn’t allow any member nation to host more than tri-nation, organising four-nation every year would have in any case devalued ICC’s own marquee events,” a board member said.

Another sensitive issue which board members are talking in hushed tones is whether Raja will remain PCB chairman for long after Imran Khan was removed from Prime Minister’s position.

PCB chairman is a political appointee as Pakistan PMs are always Patron-in-chief of the board. Hence Raja, an appointee of Imran Khan, might be forced to tender his resignation in current political climate.

The BCCI was always clear in its stand that it won’t play four-nations with its calender choc-a-bloc and a lot of bilateral commitments that need to be honoured. On top of that is player’s workload and mental health.

There were reports that ECB’s Tom Harrison was also independently interested in exploring ideas of a four-nation tourney but it’s now evident that nothing of that sort happened at board meeting.