ICC set for sweeping changes; India, England and Australia to have control curtailed

The International Cricket Council (ICC) held their first meeting of the year on Wednesday and decided to bring transparency within the world's cricket governing body.

Reflecting on the meeting, ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said the decision has been taken collectively and added they are looking forward to work on it.

"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," he said.

ICC Chairman to be 'independent'

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 through a secret balloting process overseen by the ICC's independent Audit Committee Chairman.

It was also decided that 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.

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.

Big three to no longer control world cricket

In addition, the Board agreed to approve changes to the terms of reference of the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee and Executive Committee.

This will be done 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.

The ICC Chairman has also constituted a five-member steering group which include the respective Chairmen of the ICC's Governance Review Committee, Executive Committee, Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee and Associate or Affiliate Member group, and will be supported by various members of ICC management.

The steering group will submit their report on progress at the April 2016 meeting, with a view of 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.

-ANI