New ICC chairman Greg Barclay reveals unprecedented reason behind delay in his election

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) head Greg Barclay was recently elected as the ICC chairman after comprehensively beating Singapore's Imran Khawaja to succeed India's Shashank Manohar. The appointment was carried out during ICC's annual quarterly meeting last week. The electronic voting process involved 16 board of directors -- 12 from full member (Test-playing nations), three associate countries and one independent female director (Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo).

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ICC Chairman Greg Barclay reveals reason behind delay in election

The ICC announced the appointment of Barclay as the chairman of the apex cricketing board after being at loggerheads for several weeks over the issue of the election process of the new independent chairman, following the resignation of Manohar after two terms and his declining to go for a third one. Recently, during a media interaction, Barclay revealed the reason behind ICC chairman election impasse.

Barclay said that one of the reasons behind the delay in the election was because all the jury membes weren't in a position to meet in person due to the pandemic. He reckoned that if they had been able to get to ICC headquarters in Dubai, they would have worked through the number of issues that they had. Barclay stated that because of the extraordinary circumstances, they just couldn't resolve issues as they couldn't sit in person.

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He further said that after Shashank Manohar had resigned, they didn't have someone in the chair and added that they were somewhat aimless through the process. However, Barclay was confident that with the process completed now and the chair being with him, he will address the issues. He also said that he will communicate with each of the individual directors in the coming days to ensure that all are on the same page and understanding what the ICC needs to do next. Barclay opined that it's a combination of having someone in the chair and he communicating with them will address the issues.

Newly-elected ICC chairman Greg Barclay opens up on Big Three concept

Barclay was recently involved in an interview with ESPNCricinfo where he spoke on a variety of topics ranging from associate nations to future of the ICC to the 'Big Three' concept. India, Australia and England are considered as the 'Big Three' in cricket for the large amount of revenue that they generate due to the popularity of the sport and passion amongst the fans in these countries.

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Speaking about the concept of 'Big Three', Barclay reckoned that he doesn't second the concept because for him all the members of ICC are equal. However, the new ICC chairman admitted that India, Australia and England help in generating a lot of cricketing outcomes and are important for the sustainability of the game but in the end, they are individual members of the ICC just like the others nations and can’t be treated as something special.

Barclay further said that he wasn’t at the ICC when the 'Big 3' resolutions were put in place. However, he added that while the resolutions changed the funding model, there were also some good things that came out of that like the FTP, so members got certainty around their playing arrangements and certainty around their funding.

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SOURCE: AP