July 22, 2007	Sunday	Rajab 06, 1428

NEW DELHI, July 21: Malcolm Speed will step down as International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive next year when his current term ends, an ICC spokesman said on Saturday.

“Malcolm will not be seeking an extension beyond next year's annual conference

(in June-July) at Lord's,” he said.

The 58-year-old Australian took over the job in 2001 after serving four years as chief executive of the Australian board.

Speed has faced criticism in recent months over this year's World Cup in West Indies and the handling of problems with the Zimbabwe board, whose depleted team remain suspended from Tests.

He also had to tackle last year's controversy which led to Australian Darrell Hair's sacking from the ICC's elite umpiring panel after Pakistan blamed him for their forfeiting The Oval Test after they were penalised for ball-tampering.

The ICC spokesman denied such issues had influenced Speed's decision.

“It is an absolutely personal decision and he had already taken all the ICC staff into confidence,” he said.

“The game has grown tremendously under his leadership, both in terms of development as well as financially.

He was referring to the signing of the ICC's multi-million dollar contract for global events until 2015 and the game's rapid expansion with as many as 101 national boards now affiliated to the ruling body.—Reuters