Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has withdrawn his candidature for the International Cricket Council (ICC) presidency, making way for a former Pakistan Test cricketer to take the post.
Sethi, who is the head of PCB's executive committee, made the decision after the ICC in its previous board meeting advised its member to nominate former cricketers for the largely ceremonial post of presidency from 2016.
It is understood the ICC had suggested to the PCB to nominate a former cricketer in the first place but Sethi was picked instead after a 'consensus' within the board.
Sethi said he was honoured to have been considered for the presidency of cricket's governing body but felt that it would be appropriate that an “iconic Pakistan cricketer” take the post straightaway.
“I am writing to thank you and the other members of the ICC for nominating me as ICC President for 2015-16. It is a great honour that I shall always cherish,” Sethi wrote to the ICC.
“However, since the ICC announcement that from next year the post of the ICC president will be open only to iconic Test cricketers nominated by member Boards, I have increasingly felt that it is only fitting that this rule should be implemented straightaway so that one of Pakistan's great iconic cricketers should be so honoured.
“Under the circumstances, I am withdrawing my nomination to ICC Presidency with immediate effect and requesting the Board of Governors of the Pakistan Cricket Board to nominate an great Pakistani ex-Test cricketer in my place,” the renowned journalist and former caretaker chief minister of Punjab said.
The ICC was to consider Sethi's appointment later this month at a board meeting in Barbados. Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh resigned in April as ICC president after criticising umpires for his country's loss against India in the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
