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DUBAI: The Board of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday recommended to split the role of president with a new chairman's post from 2014, and deferred the nomination of Bangladesh's Mustafa Kamal as vice-president.
“Following Board discussions since October 2011 and consistent with the recommendations in the Justice Woolf's report, the Board passed a unanimous resolution recommending to the ICC Council an amendment to the ICC article of association so that from 2014 the current presidency role is split,” said a ICC release after a meeting here.
The recommendations create a new system whereby the presidency will be an ambassadorial role appointed on a one year rotational basis, while a chairman will lead the board.
The name of Mustafa Kamal (Bangladesh Cricket Board president) was put forward for nomination jointly by Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The amendment will be discussed at the next ICC Board meeting before being submitted for approval by the ICC annual meeting in June this year, the ICC said.
India's Sharad Pawar is the current ICC president while New Zealand's Alan Isaac, the current vice-president will take over from Pawar in June this year.
The ICC had said the governance review was conducted in April last year in order to adopt a new strategic plan as one of the key initiatives to build a bigger and better global game.
The Board will also consider the position and role, if any, of the ICC vice-president between 2012 and 2014.
Accordingly, the nomination received of Kamal, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president from 2012-14 will be considered as a part of this process.
Kamal said he was not disappointed over his nomination being deferred.
“Why should I be disappointed,” Kamal told AFP. “The Board had been thinking along the lines of these recommendations for some time now and we have found the best possible solution in the meeting of the Board of which I am a part.
“I can still be the president in the post 2014 period,” said the 65-year-old Kamal, president of the Bangladesh Board since September 2009.
The ICC also enhanced incentives for Tests, the five-day format which is in danger from the rapidly growing Twenty20 brand of the game.
“A total of $3.8 million in prize money will be shared among the top four sides on 1 April 2013, 2014 and 2015, after the ICC Board approved a proposal to promote Test match cricket,” the ICC announced.
That incentive will run until the ICC Test Championship event in 2017, originally scheduled for 2013.
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat backed the prize money increase.
“This worthy increase in prize money for the top four teams in the Test rankings can only be right,” he said.
“We are delighted at the growing interest and quality of Test cricket and we must continue to promote the pinnacle form of the game before and beyond the Test Championship in 2017.”
Previously, the top team in the ICC Test rankings received a cheque for $175,000 but in future will receive a minimum of $450,000 rising to $500,000 in 2015.
From 2016 there will be further increases in Test prize money, the ICC said.
The ICC also approved an initial amount of $12 million for a programme aimed at developing more competitive teams among full, associates and affiliate members. The ICC has ten full, 36 associates and 59 affiliatee members.
The Board was also presented with an independent review of its Anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) presented by Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
