Pakistan Cricket Chief Slams ICC Plans of Presidency Rotation

Ijaz Butt, chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), slammed the International Cricket Council for its reported decision to change the rotational policy in the appointment of presidents after 2015 yesterday, June 7.

The motion will be put to vote at the ICC’s board meeting later this month and the PCB will oppose the move in which reports claim that the ICC is planning to stop the rotation policy once the term of its president, Shawad Pawar’s, successor Alan Issac is over in 2015.

Butt stated: “We are very disappointed. It is just a few days left for the ICC Board meeting and why such a decision was taken now. What is the hurry, I don’t know.

“I can’t say much on this matter now but definitely we will take up the matter and oppose it at the ICC meeting (on June 28 in Hong Kong),” he told the Times Now television news channel.

Pakistan and Bangladesh would lose out if the current rotational policy is done away with as the two countries are to present their nominees for the post of ICC president and vice-president.

Pakistan’s former ICC president Ehsan Mani had hinted on Monday, June 6, that the change in rotational policy could be initiated by India so that somebody from India could “jump the queue” to the top post.

Mani said: “I don’t know why the ICC wants to change it (the rotational policy). If it is going to be changed, I want to ask who are the people behind this.”

Nine out of 10 Test playing nations have reportedly signed on the ICC’s proposal to change the rotational policy of ICC president, which was at the centre of a major controversy last year when Australia and New Zealand’s nominee John Howard, a former Prime Minister, was rejected by the other Boards.

When the post of ICC president was first created in 1996, it was a rotation amongst Full Members, who would each have a turn in appointing the President, commencing with India (Jagmohan Dalmiya), then Australia (Malcolm Gray), Pakistan (Ehsan Mani), South Africa (Percy Sonn).

In 2007, the post of vice-president was created and the system was tweaked to the current Vice President/President.

Though rotation stayed as a policy, nominations now came from pairs of countries: Australia-New Zealand, West Indies-England, India-Sri Lanka, Pakistan-Bangladesh and South Africa-Zimbabwe.