ICC delays contentious presidency debate

HONG KONG: Cricket’s world governing body announced on Wednesday that it had deferred until October its decision on whether to scrap its controversial rotational presidency.

The decision spares the blushes of officials hoping to avoid a divisive battle over the issue, with the International Cricket Council (ICC) keen to present a united front as it wraps up its first annual conference in Hong Kong.

“The board decided to defer the proposed constitutional amendment to the nominations process for election of the ICC president and accordingly withdrew its proposal to the annual conference in this regard,” the ICC said in a statement.

Any big changes would have met fierce opposition from Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are scheduled to nominate the body’s next-but-one leader to succeed New Zealander Alan Isaac in 2014.

Memories are still fresh of last year’s embarrassing meeting, when countries flatly refused to endorse former Australian prime minister John Howard as the next ICC president, despite his nomination by Australia and New Zealand.

The debacle is thought to be at the heart of moves, reportedly spearheaded by India and England, to scrap the two-year rotational presidency, although details of any new system remain unclear.

Isaac is to take over from incumbent Sharad Pawar of India next year.

The executive board, on the last day of its meeting, unanimously agreed on an urgent independent review of its structure and process, to be completed by the next board meeting in October.

“I wholeheartedly welcome an independent review of the entire ICC governance and regard this as a major step to meet stakeholder expectations and the high standards of a world-class organisation,” said ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

Pakistan, which has not hosted a major international side since gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team in 2009, requested to host an ICC event in 2018.

“We fully understand the… request and we will consider if it is possible to host an event in Pakistan subject to the standard safety and security clearances,” Lorgat said.