Later this month, the International Cricket Council will hold its Annual Conference in Colombo. Not on the agenda is the election of a new chairman. As the next chairman of the global organisation is expected to be elected in November, Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the likely youngest leader ever, would have at least three months to consider moving to Dubai. According to Cricbuzz, the annual conference is set to take place from July 19 to July 22.
Regarding his desire to take over the chairmanship, which Greg Barclay has held for the previous four years, Jay Shah has remained steadfastly undecided.
Barclay is qualified for an additional term and would be interested in staying on. If Jay Shah chooses to run, he should be able to win the election without any opposition.
The ICC had changed the chairman’s term, as was first reported in February. Jay Shah will serve as the ICC’s chair for three years if he is elected. According to the BCCI rules, he will thereafter be qualified to take over as president of the organisation in 2028.
The ICC headquarters may move from Dubai to Mumbai, and there has been much conjecture in the international media about Shah’s future involvement in the organisation. Shah is apparently eager to introduce reforms inside the ICC, even though such a move is not now being considered. This is especially true in light of the turbulent organisation of the most recent T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies. The schedule for the chairman’s election is anticipated to be finalised at the annual conference.
In the meanwhile, the election of Associate Member Directors is set for July 19 during the Annual Conference. There are eleven contenders vying for the three two-year terms available on the ICC Board of Directors. Pankaj Khimji of Oman, Imran Khwaja of Singapore, and Neil Speight of Bermuda are the current directors.
An announcement from the ICC states that “an electronic voting mechanism that permits anonymous voting will be used to conduct the election. Should the electronic voting system malfunction, a manual vote by secret ballot will be held. The three candidates on the ballot will be put to a vote by the public, in order of choice.”
“If there is still a tie after, the candidates involved shall be asked to agree between themselves which of them should be appointed and in circumstances where the candidates are not able to agree, a coin toss will decide the successful candidate,” according to the ICC rulebook.