The issues surrounding Indian tax concerns, the structure of the international playing calendar, status of matches played as part of the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series, the status of Kenya and Project USA, and the extension of the ICC President's term of office were among the matters addressed by the International Cricket Council's executive board in its two-day meeting which concluded in Delhi today.
Indian tax - ICC seeks resolution by May 2005, Pakistan on standby as alternate venue for ICC Champions Trophy 2006
The ICC President updated directors on his discussions with Indian government officials concerning the current tax issues that are acting as a barrier to the staging of ICC events in India. He advised that the ICC was yet to receive the undertakings that it was seeking.
The ICC board reiterated its desire to stage the event in India subject to its concerns regarding potential Indian tax liabilities and the impact that these would have on the ability of the game to invest money into the sport.
The board instructed the ICC to achieve finality on this issue by May 2005 to allow the directors to make a final decision on the venue for this tournament.
Should the Indian government decide that the tax exemptions will not be granted, Pakistan has been agreed as the alternate venue for the ICC Champions Trophy 2006.
The structure of the international calendar ? six-year options to be examined
The board debated alternatives to the current five-year international playing calendar that requires each country to play each other country once at home and once away during this period in a minimum of two Test matches and three ODIs in each series.
Options examined covered four, five and six years.
The board rejected any proposal to reduce the cycle length and has asked ICC management to investigate the practicalities and implications of moving to a 6 year international playing calendar.
The key principles that the board has instructed management to take into account in developing this report include:
That no country would lose its Test status;
That any calendar must be able to accommodate the ICC events (World Cups, Champions Trophies and Super Series);
That all Test countries would be entitled to have a minimum of two Tests and three ODI matches scheduled against each other Test-playing country on a minimum of once at home and once away during the course of this six-year cycle;
That any calendar must accommodate Asian Cricket Council events including the Asia Cup and the Asian Test Championship; and
That the calendar must accommodate those series that are played on a shorter schedule than the six-year cycle such as Australia v England, India v Pakistan and England v West Indies.
This report, including a draft six-year program, will be developed over the coming months and be presented to the board for further consideration.
Project USA terminated with immediate effect
In light of the inability of the United States of America Cricket Association to address the fundamental governance issues of the game in the USA, the Executive Board decided to immediately terminate its initiative to stage international cricket in the USA to generate funds to develop the game in this country.
The president of the ICC, Ehsan Mani, said that the Board was left with little choice but to make this decision. "The decision to terminate Project USA is taken with some regret. Cricket is growing in America and Gary Hopkins who was appointed to run this project had done some excellent work in preparing the way for international cricket to be played there," said Mr Mani. "Nevertheless, the success of this project relies on having an effective governing body for cricket in the United States.
"Our experience in dealing with the USACA and the current controversy over the governance of the game in this country has convinced the Board that it cannot support investing ICC members funds in this project and it has been terminated."
Status of matches played as part of the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series
This issue was carefully debated by the board. It considered the views of the chief executive officers from the Test-playing nations, the views of ICC management, the views of the captains and players and a submission from the Association of Cricket Statisticians during the course of its deliberations including a proposal to create a new category of international status for the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series matches in Australia.
The board decided that, in light of the nature of the teams that were to take part in the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series and the quality of the participants, the most appropriate status for these games was as full international matches.
These matches will now be recognised by the ICC as official one-day international matches and a full Test match.
Kenya Cricket ? Africa Cricket Association to investigate
The Board accepted an offer by the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) to travel to Kenya to speak with the parties involved in the current dispute to see if a resolution to the current impasse is possible.
The ACA will be assisted by the ICC vice-president, Percy Sonn, and will provide a report to the executive board on the findings of this visit and its view on whether the current issues can be resolved. At the same time, the ICC will continue with the initiative of an independent commission to develop a new constitution for cricket in Kenya. The board has agreed to continue with the suspension of the special funding that was to be provided to Kenya to support the development of the game in the country.
The board agreed to release the base Associate member entitlement of $54,000 to Kenyan cricket in installments over the course of the year to deal with the pressing financial obligations of the KCA.
ICC Governance ? ICC President's term extended for 12 months
A special meeting of members of the ICC held during the course of the executive board meeting in India made two decisions:
It agreed to the extension of the term of office of the current ICC president, Ehsan Mani, for an additional 12 months up until the June 2006 ICC annual conference;
It endorsed a proposal that Affiliate members be entitled to have one voting delegate per development region (5) at the annual Associates Meeting and the ICC annual conference.
Mani said that he was honored to receive an invitation to have his term extended and accepted the invitation. "The opportunity to lead the International Cricket Council is a great honour and I am grateful for the members for providing this invitation to extend my term as president. I am pleased to accept this invitation and look forward to continuing to work in the interests of cricket in this role."
The executive board also agreed to recommend to annual conference that:
The executive board be permitted to extend, by invitation, the term of future ICC presidents from two years to three years; and
A proposal to replace the current system for selecting the ICC president with a six-person nominations committee which will make a recommendation to the full board for the appointment of the ICC president.
Proposals for the restructuring of the governance of the ICC's commercial arm, IDI, were deferred.
Board recommends abolition of ODI membership sub-category to annual conference
The board agreed to recommend to the annual conference 2005 that the current membership sub-category of "ODI Member" be abolished with effect from January 2006 as it was no longer relevant. If accepted this would see the sole member in this category, Kenya, resume the position of an Associate Member of the ICC.
If this recommendation is adopted at the annual conference, the board agreed that any future matches played between the top six ranked ICC Associate members and matches involving these teams and any of the 10 Test-playing members of the ICC, both within and outside ICC events, would be granted full ODI status.
? ICC
Cricinfo
Indian tax - ICC seeks resolution by May 2005, Pakistan on standby as alternate venue for ICC Champions Trophy 2006
The ICC President updated directors on his discussions with Indian government officials concerning the current tax issues that are acting as a barrier to the staging of ICC events in India. He advised that the ICC was yet to receive the undertakings that it was seeking.
The ICC board reiterated its desire to stage the event in India subject to its concerns regarding potential Indian tax liabilities and the impact that these would have on the ability of the game to invest money into the sport.
The board instructed the ICC to achieve finality on this issue by May 2005 to allow the directors to make a final decision on the venue for this tournament.
Should the Indian government decide that the tax exemptions will not be granted, Pakistan has been agreed as the alternate venue for the ICC Champions Trophy 2006.
The structure of the international calendar ? six-year options to be examined
The board debated alternatives to the current five-year international playing calendar that requires each country to play each other country once at home and once away during this period in a minimum of two Test matches and three ODIs in each series.
Options examined covered four, five and six years.
The board rejected any proposal to reduce the cycle length and has asked ICC management to investigate the practicalities and implications of moving to a 6 year international playing calendar.
The key principles that the board has instructed management to take into account in developing this report include:
That no country would lose its Test status;
That any calendar must be able to accommodate the ICC events (World Cups, Champions Trophies and Super Series);
That all Test countries would be entitled to have a minimum of two Tests and three ODI matches scheduled against each other Test-playing country on a minimum of once at home and once away during the course of this six-year cycle;
That any calendar must accommodate Asian Cricket Council events including the Asia Cup and the Asian Test Championship; and
That the calendar must accommodate those series that are played on a shorter schedule than the six-year cycle such as Australia v England, India v Pakistan and England v West Indies.
This report, including a draft six-year program, will be developed over the coming months and be presented to the board for further consideration.
Project USA terminated with immediate effect
In light of the inability of the United States of America Cricket Association to address the fundamental governance issues of the game in the USA, the Executive Board decided to immediately terminate its initiative to stage international cricket in the USA to generate funds to develop the game in this country.
The president of the ICC, Ehsan Mani, said that the Board was left with little choice but to make this decision. "The decision to terminate Project USA is taken with some regret. Cricket is growing in America and Gary Hopkins who was appointed to run this project had done some excellent work in preparing the way for international cricket to be played there," said Mr Mani. "Nevertheless, the success of this project relies on having an effective governing body for cricket in the United States.
"Our experience in dealing with the USACA and the current controversy over the governance of the game in this country has convinced the Board that it cannot support investing ICC members funds in this project and it has been terminated."
Status of matches played as part of the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series
This issue was carefully debated by the board. It considered the views of the chief executive officers from the Test-playing nations, the views of ICC management, the views of the captains and players and a submission from the Association of Cricket Statisticians during the course of its deliberations including a proposal to create a new category of international status for the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series matches in Australia.
The board decided that, in light of the nature of the teams that were to take part in the Johnnie Walker ICC Super Series and the quality of the participants, the most appropriate status for these games was as full international matches.
These matches will now be recognised by the ICC as official one-day international matches and a full Test match.
Kenya Cricket ? Africa Cricket Association to investigate
The Board accepted an offer by the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) to travel to Kenya to speak with the parties involved in the current dispute to see if a resolution to the current impasse is possible.
The ACA will be assisted by the ICC vice-president, Percy Sonn, and will provide a report to the executive board on the findings of this visit and its view on whether the current issues can be resolved. At the same time, the ICC will continue with the initiative of an independent commission to develop a new constitution for cricket in Kenya. The board has agreed to continue with the suspension of the special funding that was to be provided to Kenya to support the development of the game in the country.
The board agreed to release the base Associate member entitlement of $54,000 to Kenyan cricket in installments over the course of the year to deal with the pressing financial obligations of the KCA.
ICC Governance ? ICC President's term extended for 12 months
A special meeting of members of the ICC held during the course of the executive board meeting in India made two decisions:
It agreed to the extension of the term of office of the current ICC president, Ehsan Mani, for an additional 12 months up until the June 2006 ICC annual conference;
It endorsed a proposal that Affiliate members be entitled to have one voting delegate per development region (5) at the annual Associates Meeting and the ICC annual conference.
Mani said that he was honored to receive an invitation to have his term extended and accepted the invitation. "The opportunity to lead the International Cricket Council is a great honour and I am grateful for the members for providing this invitation to extend my term as president. I am pleased to accept this invitation and look forward to continuing to work in the interests of cricket in this role."
The executive board also agreed to recommend to annual conference that:
The executive board be permitted to extend, by invitation, the term of future ICC presidents from two years to three years; and
A proposal to replace the current system for selecting the ICC president with a six-person nominations committee which will make a recommendation to the full board for the appointment of the ICC president.
Proposals for the restructuring of the governance of the ICC's commercial arm, IDI, were deferred.
Board recommends abolition of ODI membership sub-category to annual conference
The board agreed to recommend to the annual conference 2005 that the current membership sub-category of "ODI Member" be abolished with effect from January 2006 as it was no longer relevant. If accepted this would see the sole member in this category, Kenya, resume the position of an Associate Member of the ICC.
If this recommendation is adopted at the annual conference, the board agreed that any future matches played between the top six ranked ICC Associate members and matches involving these teams and any of the 10 Test-playing members of the ICC, both within and outside ICC events, would be granted full ODI status.
? ICC
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