The ICC board has unanimously re-elected Greg Barclay as the Independent Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a second two-year term. Barclay was unopposed following the withdrawal of Tavengwa Mukuhlani from the process, and the Board reaffirmed its full support of him to continue as Chair for a further two years.
Commenting on his re-appointment Greg Barclay said: “It is an honour to be re-elected as the Chair of the International Cricket Council and I would like to thank my fellow ICC Directors for their support. Over the last two years we have made significant strides forward with the launch of our global growth strategy that provides clear direction to build a successful and sustainable future for our sport. It is an exciting time to be involved in cricket and I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Members to strengthen the game in our core markets as well as grow it beyond that, ensuring more of the world can enjoy cricket.”
Mukuhlani added: “I would like to congratulate Greg on his re-appointment as ICC Chair, as the continuity his leadership will provide is in the best interests of the sport. I therefore decided to withdraw my candidacy.” Mukuhlani was expected to get the votes from some of Full member countries and the three (3) Associate representatives on the Board, but the tide may have tilted towards Barclay in the past 2 weeks or so during the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, where Barclay has been seen in attendance along with other ICC Board members and Individual country Board representatives.
When it comes to decisions being taken in regards to qualification pathway system involving the Associate member countries, Barclays’ first term has been filled with it’s own share of controversies as well. From the scraping of CWC Super League for the next FTP of 2023-2027, scraping of Global qualifiers for Men’s T20 World Cups in favor of Regional Finals for qualification towards future T20 World Cup editions and no qualification pathway for teams without temporary ODI status to qualify towards Global qualifiers for Women’s World Cups have been some of the most controversial decisions been taken.
