Cricket’s Associate Member Directors Election Intensifies As India Eyes The ICC Chair

Influential figures are set to contest the upcoming Associate Member Directors election amid jockeying for three coveted positions on the all-powerful International Cricket Council (ICC) board, magnified by mighty India’s expected run at the chair later in the year.

The hotly contested battle has major stakes and could tilt the balance of power amongst the sport’s powerbrokers with the much-anticipated chair election set for November when current chairman Greg Barclay’s two-year term ends.

Barclay, a pragmatic New Zealander who was elected contentiously in late 2020 with India’s influential backing, has had a rocky period in the hot seat of the notoriously divided board marred by the controversial sacking of chief executive Manu Sawhney last year.

Sentiments on his leadership, from those in and around the board, have been mixed and he recently received flak after poorly received statements on women’s and Test cricket, where he came across as rather defeatist.

According to media in India, Barclay is likely to step aside with India eyeing a return to the chair to coincide with the cricket power hosting the showpiece ODI World Cup in 2023.

India’s governing body bosses Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah, who have each been speculated to make a run for ICC chair amid the sheen of the Indian Premier League’s astonishing media rights windfall, sounded out fellow board directors during a get-togther during the recent IPL, according to sources. There was no confirmation of any run, but rather a keen interest of the permutations ahead, including at the Associate election.

The expected push from India has heightened the fight for power on the board as its shadow hovers in the backdrop ahead of the Associate election. The deadline for candidates is on June 23 and results will be known during the ICC’s annual general meeting in Birmingham next month.

The three incumbents, Associate chair and ICC deputy chairman Imran Khwaja, Mahinda Vallipuram and Neil Speight, will recontest. But they will be locked in a tough battle with high-profile Pankaj Khimji (Oman) and Mark Stafford (Vanuatu) confirming to me that they will run.

Rising administrator Mubashshir Usmani, who is masterminding UAE’sUAE
well-heeled T20 league, will likely contest and is highly-rated with some believing he is destined to one day become an Associate chair or even higher honors.

There will likely be a couple of other candidates to “dilute votes”, according to sources, to almost mimic the field of eight in the 2020 election, where Khimji fell short by just one vote with Stafford one vote further behind.

Usmani and Khimji, whose wealthy and influential family started cricket in Oman, might well benefit from India’s all-important support with strong relationships underlined by UAE and Oman filling in as hosts for India during last year’s T20 World Cup.

“You need to be on the same wavelength as the big boys, the top 12 (Full Members), rather than at loggerheads,” Khimji told me. “Taking on an existing kind of mindset will only make things worse.”

“I’m aware there will be an Indian push, which is not surprising, but that doesn’t worry me,” said Stafford, who was previously on the influential Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC). “As long as whoever is in the chair has an open mind and can work from the top to bottom.”

There has been lingering scars within the Associates over a ‘power grab’ last year by top performing Associate nations, who wanted “their voice to be heard at the ICC” and “properly represented” on the board and CEC.

It failed to eventuate, but looms as an election issue. “We don’t want disproportionate representation. Currently you’ve got three Associate reps on the ICC board and none of them come from the high performance countries,” said Khimji whose Oman is part of the top 10 performing Associate nations.

Against strong challengers, the pressure is on the trio of incumbents although the frontrunners remain veteran Khwaja, who retains strong support in the Associates, and Vallipuram, the ex-Malaysia boss making an impact at the rejuvenated Asian Cricket Council alongside Shah.

Speight (Bermuda), who has been on the board previously and the CEC, appears most vulnerable in what shapes as a tight contest.

Sumod Damodar (Botswana), who is on the CEC, confirmed to me he will not run having recently taken the reins of the Africa Cricket Association, where he is helping resurrect the Afro-Asia Cup.

Having recently successfully fought for his women’s team to be granted coveted ODI status, Ravi Sehgal (Thailand) decided not to run after a contemplation.

If Usmani prevails, a spot would open on the CEC, which is seen as a stepping stone to get onto the ICC board where the real power lies in global cricket.

Under ICC rules, candidates have to be a representative of an Associate Member or a current/past ICC director. The contest will be held through a ‘weighted’ secret ballot voting system, where voters from 40 Associate Members and five Regional Representatives (Americas, Asia, Europe, East Asia-Pacific and Africa) will each select three candidates in order of preference.

Newly-elected directors will receive two-year terms.

After the election, with possibly a revamped ICC board, the politicking will go into overdrive for a long-winded campaign for chair.