NEW DELHI, April 25: The International Cricket Council (ICC) asked outgoing chief executive Malcolm Speed to go on leave on Friday following major differences at the top of the organisation.

“The ICC President, Ray Mali, and the CEO Speed have agreed that Malcolm Speed will be on paid leave from April 30 until the end of his contract term on July 4 2008,” an ICC statement from its president-elect David Morgan said.

“This change of plan is the result of a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between the CEO and a number of (ICC) board members, including the president, over a variety of issues that include Zimbabwe.”

South Africa’s David Richardson, the ICC general manager for cricket, will hold the post until his compatriot Haroon Lorgat, a former convenor of selectors, takes over the job at the ICC annual conference in early July.

However, he said that it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the development as he is not involved with the ICC yet. “This is something I don’t want to get into right now.”

Asking Australia’s Speed to go ahead of the schedule is the latest crisis to hit the ICC, indicating serious divisions among its member boards.

The affair of the troubled Zimbabwe board has been one of them. The national team has been out of Test cricket since January 2006 after the side were depleted in the wake of a series of confrontations between players and the administration.

In July last year, a confidential report by Speed and Faisal Hasnain, the ICC’s chief financial officer, was leaked, much to the ICC’s embarrassment and anger, in which Speed made a series of stinging attacks on Zimbabwe board’s finances, concluding: “It is clear that the accounts of ZC have been deliberately falsified to mask various illegal transactions from the auditors and the government of Zimbabwe.

“The accounts were incorrect and at no stage did ZC draw the attention of the users of these accounts to the unusual transactions. It may not be possible to rely on the authenticity of its balance sheet.”

Mali, who is a staunch supporter of Zimbabwe and of its officials, has not yet commented publicly on the situation but it is a telling reflection on his inability to handle the media that it will be Morgan — renowned for his conciliatory manner — who will front up at the press conference at Lord’s.

Mali is understood to have been incensed by Speed’s conduct and gained support from a number of board members as he successfully moved to have Speed sidelined for the remainder of his tenure.

Although Zimbabwe has emerged as the key reason for the falling-out, it is understood that Speed’s recent statement that the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) had approached the ICC seeking official recognition had also been used as an excuse to get rid of him.

“We have removed him so what is left to say now,” said a senior official from the anti-Speed camp, who did not wish to be identified.

“We were not happy with the way he handled the Zimbabwe situation, and his recent statements which implied that the ICL issue had not been raised officially within ICC.

“There were also many who were not happy with his confrontational style of functioning.”

Meanwhile, a media report suggested the ICC’s annual conference in late June, traditionally held at Lord’s, could be moved to its headquarters in Dubai due to visa problems for Zimbabwe board chief Peter Chingoka.

An ICC spokesman told Reuters no official decision had been made on shifting the venue. —Agencies