Why Manohar quit suddenly as ICC chairman
Just eight months in his twoyear term, the former BCCI president cited personal reasons in his letter
Plans for reform at the International Cricket Council and the creation of a world Test championship have been left in a state of flux after Shashank Manohar, the chairman of the governing body and a driving force for change, tendered his resignation on Wednesday.
Manohar, the 59-year-old Indian lawyer who was just eight months into a two-year term as the ICC’s first independent chairman, cited “personal reasons” in his letter to the chief executive, Dave Richardson, but his decision comes amid reports that India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are ready to block moves to shake up the global game.
A former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Manohar had been looking to scale back the so-called “Big Three” model devised in 2014 that saw India, Australia and England take greater control of the sport at international level and award themselves just over half of the revenues generated by ICC events such as the World Cup, describing them as “decisions that were, in retrospect, not always in the best interests of the game as a whole.”
DAMNING APPRAISAL
This damning appraisal followed the drawing up of a revised constitution at the start of last month that was due to be decided upon at the next ICC meetings in April, along with proposals to create league systems for both Test and one-day cricket that would give greater context and meaning to international series amid the rising profile of domes- tic Twenty20.
While these changes were agreed in principle, both India and Sri Lanka voted against them at the time and according to a report in India Today the pair have now been joined by Zimbabwe (who abstained) and Bangladesh – a sufficient number to block the moves altogether – following a meeting of their representatives in Colombo.
Manohar, in his resignation letter, wrote: “I have tried to do my best and have tried to be fair and impartial in deciding mat- ters in the functioning of the Board and in matters related to Member Boards along with the able support of all Directors. However, for personal reasons it is not possible for me to hold the august office of ICC Chairman and hence I am tendering my resignation as Chairman with immediate effect.”
A brief ICC statement confirmed receipt of his resignation and added: “The ICC Board will assess the situation and next steps before making a further announcement.”
The ICC Board is now set to appoint an interim chairman before holding elections for a full-time replacement are held. Manohar was elected in May last year unopposed and it now remains to be seen whether Giles Clarke, the president of the England and Wales Cricket Board who was considered a contender at the time, will put his name forward.
MANOHAR HAD BEEN LOOKING TO SCALE BACK THE “BIG THREE” MODEL DEVISED IN 2014 THAT SAW INDIA, AUSTRALIA AND ENGLAND TAKE GREATER CONTROL.