June 28 (Reuters) – New Zealander Alan Isaac took over as
the eighth president of the International Cricket Council (ICC)
on Thursday on a two-year term before the post becomes titular.
The former New Zealand Cricket chairman succeeded India’s
Sharad Pawar at the ICC Annual Conference in Kuala Lumpur, where
former South Africa wicket-keeper David Richardson was confirmed
as the new ICC chief executive at the end of compatriot Haroon
Lorgat’s four-year term.
“I believe that the challenges ahead are no less daunting
than those we have faced in the last two years if we are to
maintain the vibrancy and viability of the three formats of the
sport,” Isaac said in a statement.
“I look forward to serving the game with honesty and
integrity and to the best of my ability. I look forward to
handing on the guardianship of the sport with the game enjoying
even greater health,” he added.
Isaac takes over at a time when the ICC is perceived as too
susceptible to the financial might of the Indian cricket board.
The governing body’s failure to mandate the use of the
Decision Review System earlier this week is cited as yet another
instance of its helplessness against the Indian board, which has
been steadfast in its opposition to the technology.
In the annual conference, the ICC agreed to create the post
of an ICC Chairman, who would call the shots, remove the role of
ICC vice-president and make the president’s role “ceremonial in
nature with a term of only one year.”
The ICC board will select a chairman in 2014 with a two-year
term.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by …)
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