Greg Barclay, the ICC’s incumbent chairman has said that he will not seek a third term when his tenure ends on November 30 sparking speculation over Jay Shah, BCCI secretary and his future at the global sport governing body.
The last date for submission of nominations for the Chairperson post is August 27th which will determine if Shah wishes to be considered or not.
An ICC chairman can have three two-year terms, and Barclay has already served four years.
In November 2020 Barclay was appointed as a non-executive chairperson of ICC later in 2022 he was re-elected after serving only two years in that position.
“Barclay confirmed to the Board that he would not seek another term as Chairman. He said his current term would expire at the end of November. After having been appointed Independent Chairman of ICC in November 2020, he was re-elected in 2022,” an official release by ICC stated.
Whoever wants to become the new chairman needs to receive nine votes, or more than half (51%), out of all sixteen votes cast. Previously it required two-thirds majority votes for one to become the chairperson.
“The current Directors are required under the terms of Article 32(1)(ii) to propose candidates for the next Chair by no later than August 27th. Where there is more than one candidate, an election will be held with the term of office starting from December 1st,” reads part of a statement by BCCI’s constitution.
Jay Shah is currently one of the most influential people in international cricket’s controlling helm and runs its powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) sub-committee. He enjoys great respect amongst fellow voting members who amount to 16 in total.
Shah could remain as BCCI secretary until October 2025 before undergoing a compulsory cool-off period lasting three years thereafter.
As per Supreme Court approved BCCI constitution, an office-bearer can serve for six years before mandatory cooling-off period of three years. There is a total tenure limit of nine years in a state association and then nine more as part of BCCI.
Even if he spent just one year left as the BCCI secretaryship shifted to ICC; Shah would still have four remaining at BCCI upon his return. For someone who is 35 years old, he would be the youngest ICC chairperson ever.
The previous Indian heads for ICC include Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan, and Shashank Manohar.
