No Permanent Positions For Board of Control For Cricket in India, England and Australian Boards: International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council (ICC) all set to scrap the controversial constitutional amendments, which gave executive clout and financial power to India, Australia and England, with its Shashank Manohar-led Board recommending complete overhaul of the current power structure here on Thursday. (ICC Board to Discuss Contentious Constitutional Amendments)

In its first meeting of 2016 after Manohar took over as ICC chairman, the world body's Board agreed that the current system, put in place by controversial former head N Srinivasan, needed to be done away with. (Haroon Lorgat Believes That Shashank Manohar Will Change ICC For Good)

"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," the ICC said in a statement. (International Cricket Council Chief Shashank Manohar Pans 'Bullying' by 'Big Three')

"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. (Big Three vs Rest of the World)

"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."

Complete review of 2014 constitutional changes

In fact the Manohar-led ICC suggested complete review of the constitutional changes made in 2014 by Srinivasan which gave enormous powers to the 'Big Three' with bulk of the revenue share going their way.

"The Board agreed to approve changes to the terms of reference of the Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee and Executive Committee so as 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, and to 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.

"To that end, the present composition of the committees will be reviewed in their entirety in June 2016," an ICC release stated.

"Moreover, the Board has 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 ICC said.

"As part of this wide-ranging exercise, the ICC Board has directed that the ICC's constitution be reviewed in its entirety and all members have been encouraged to provide feedback on this issue to ICC management during the next few weeks."

'Aimed at making ICC transparent'

Manohar said the recommendations were aimed at making ICC operations more transparent.

"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."

Manohar has constituted a five-member steering group, which, under his leadership, also includes 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.

Other important measures

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 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.

Manohar said:"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."

In parallel with the constitutional and governance review, there was a detailed discussion on the future structure and scheduling of international cricket, including the impact of Twenty20 leagues on the international game.

This discussion covered the positioning of each of cricket's three formats and the amount of international cricket that should be played, with a view to building a clearer cricket calendar with greater context, being underpinned by an appropriate funding model.