ICC to end control by ‘Big Three’

Final decision to be decided in April

THE International Cricket Council (ICC) has agreed “in principle” to reverse the 2014 decision which effectively put India, England and Australia in control of the game’s finances and administration.

The influential Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) voted against the new proposal after failing to defer the vote in a threeday ICC board meeting that concluded in Dubai on Saturday.

Vikram Limaye, representing BCCI, sought to defer the vote on the proposal until the next meeting in April, saying he had insufficient time to evaluate it.

Limaye, a financial executive, is one of the four administrators named by India’s top court last week to run BCCI as part of administrative reforms imposed on the world’s richest board.

The ICC board will take a final decision on a new financial model and governance structure at the April meeting.

“Today was an important step forward for the future of the ICC and cricket around the world,” ICC Indian chairman Shashank Manohar said.

Former BCCI president Manohar has been critical of the 2014 changes, which he felt allowed the three major countries to bully the ICC.

“I want the ICC to be reasonable and fair in our approach to all 105 members and the revised constitution and financial model does that,” said the 59-year-old lawyer, who led the working group which prepared a new constitution.

The proposed governance structure includes a new revenue distribution model, which seeks to address the imbalance favouring the “Big Three”.

The three-day meeting in Dubai also proposed a nine-team Test league, a 13-team one-day league and advocated a regional qualification process for the World Twenty20.

The governing body is also considering test cricket status for Ireland and Afghanistan.

The chief executives committee agreed to extend the Decision Review System to World Twenty20 matches, giving a level of consistency in the use of technology across international cricket. — Reuters