CHENNAI: Giles Clarke, former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has emerged front-runner to replace Shashank Manohar as the independent chairman of the International Cricket Council, come June, 2018.Although Manohar’s term gets over in June, he can seek an extension, provided all members are unanimous on him. But Express understands that Clarke is ready to throw his hat in the ring.
If he does that, Manohar is most likely to stay away from contesting election. Manohar, who quit the post in March 2017, was persuaded by the members to complete his two-year tenure. He saw the ICC go through a sea of changes on administrative and financial fronts.
Throughout this period, Manohar has mostly been at loggerheads with BCCI officials, who expressed displeasure over his manner of financial restructuring, which saw the Indian board lose around $200 million as revenue from the ICC.
With the BCCI unlikely to support his extension, Clarke seems to have already gathered the support of ECB, Cricket Australia, Pakistan Cricket Board and West Indies Cricket Board.
As per the ICC constitution, for a candidate to become independent chairman, one of the directors has to nominate his name, following which an independent commissioner will speak to the concerned candidate on whether he intends to become the chairman.
If the candidate says yes, he has to find one to propose his name and another to second it. If more than one candidate is willing, there will be an election.Though Manohar still has plenty of support in the ICC, it is reliably learnt that a ‘Western bloc’ is trying to end Asian supremacy, which has grown in the last decade, when they assemble in England in June for the annual general body meeting.
“Giles has the backing of the ECB and for long, he has aspired to become the chairman. Having worked closely with Pakistan in recent years as chairman of ICC’s Pakistan Task Force, he seems to have their support. The PCB wants international cricket to return to Pakistan and it would also like to see Clarke at the helm of affairs,” ICC sources told Express.
Manohar, the first independent chairman of the ICC, can still seek an extension, but the former BCCI president is reluctant to contest elections and appears to prefer a smooth transition. With BCCI unlikely to nominate his name, Manohar will struggle to get support, particularly because of the fact that Clarke has managed to get a few by his side.
With the BCCI already busy fighting own problems, officials are unlikely to find an alternative candidate who satisfies all parties.
Clarke in the past has had a close relationship with former ICC chief N Srinivasan, and also played a significant role in introducing the ‘Big Three’ financial model, which was dismantled after Manohar became the chairman.
In recent years, the ECB has also fallen out with Clarke, but that won’t stop them from supporting his candidature.
What it means for BCCI?
Though Shashank Manohar’s candidature was supported by the BCCI in the beginning, he has fallen out with the cash-rich board for abolishing the financial model.
The BCCI doesn’t have any strong alternate candidate to line-up as a challenger to Giles Clarke and the Indian cricket board could potentially lose the clout they have been enjoying in the ICC for more than a decade now.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com