FP – Suspended Indian cricket chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan is set to be appointed ICC chairman this week when cricket’s ruling body meets in Melbourne.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has confirmed the 69-year-old industrialist will stand as chairman of the ICC, even though he has been suspended by India’s Supreme Court as that country’s cricket chief.
Srinivasan, among 13 people named in a damning report into corruption allegations in the Indian Premier League, will have his status as the most powerful man in world cricket rubber-stamped on Thursday.
Controversial changes to the ICC’s constitution, finalised in Singapore earlier this year, will also be ticked off – allowing the ‘Big Three’ governing bodies of India, Australia and England to dictate the future of the sport.
The International Cricket Council’s annual conference on Thursday is one of many meetings of the game’s bigwigs in Melbourne.
It starts with a gathering of the ICC chief executives’ committee on Tuesday and Wednesday, when next year’s one-day World Cup will be among the issues discussed by Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland.
The annual report from the chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit will also be keenly awaited, given the game’s ongoing fixing woes.
ICC Associate and Affiliate Members will also meet on Tuesday, when the appointment of Srinivasan and the sport’s stalled push for Olympic status will be thrashed out.
According to a report on ESPN Cricinfo, the Associate nations have also expressed “pressing concern” over the 2019 one-day World Cup being a 10-team tournament.