The ICC Board held its first meeting of 2016 at the ICC Headquarters in Dubai on 3 February. Among the decisions made and reports received were:
Review of the ICC’s constitution and governance structures
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 re-establish as quickly as possible the ‘independent’ position of ICC Chairman.
As such, the Board unanimously agreed to propose to the Full Council that a new Chairman should be elected by the Board for a two-year term commencing at the June 2016 Board meeting through a secret balloting process overseen by the ICC’s independent Audit Committee Chairman.
To qualify to contest the election, it has been 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.
Cricket’s potential participation in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games
The Board received a report from management on the status of on-going dialogue with the International Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games federation about the benefits and drawbacks of cricket’s future participation in the Olympic and/or Commonwealth Games. The Board acknowledged that this 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.
Anti-Corruption Unit Oversight Group constituted
The Board received an anti-corruption update from Sir Ronnie Flanagan and, as recommended by the Integrity Working Party during last year’s review, took steps to formally appoint an Anti-Corruption Oversight Group.
The oversight group will include the Chairman of the Executive Committee (under whose area of responsibility this function rests) and will also include former India captain Rahul Dravid, legal expert Louis Weston and independent anti-corruption advisor John Abbott, who was the Chairman of the Integrity Working Party. The Chairman of the ACU, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, and ICC Chief Executive, David Richardson, will also be ex-officio members of the group.
The group will meet once a year to review and provide independent input into the strategy adopted by the sport to tackle corruption and its implementation, and to offer its advice and guidance to the Chairman of the ACU where required.
USA Cricket
The Board received a detailed update on cricket activities in the USA, and approved a strategic planning framework that has been developed after wide-ranging consultation with the USA cricket community. In line with this strategy, a number of development and high performance activities were approved to take place during 2016 pursuant to the ‘special project’ budget that the ICC has set aside to support the development of cricket in the USA. In this respect, the ICC noted that the USA Cricket Association remains suspended by the ICC and encouraged it to work more closely with ICC management to try to unify the cricketing community in the USA.
ICC U19 CWC qualification
The Board approved a qualification pathway for future ICC U19 Cricket World Cups. 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 12 January-4 February 2018. The remaining five sides will qualify through the regional qualifying tournaments.
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