The International Cricket Council (ICC) will clamp its Annual Conference in Colombo later this month, but the election for the chairman position will not be on the agenda. The new chairman will be elected in November, giving Jay Shah, widely tilted to be the youngest head of the world body, at least three months to decide if he wishes to move to Dubai. The annual conference is from July 19 to 22.
Shah has been persistently non-committal about whether he is interested in taking over as the chairman, a position currently held by Greg Barclay for the past four years. The New Zealander ascended to the role with support from the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Barclay is eligible for another term and may be attentive too in continuing but if Shah contests, he is certain to be elected unopposed.
If elected, Shah will serve a three-year term as ICC chairman, after which he will be eligible, as per the BCCI constitution, to become the president of the BCCI in 2028.
International media has been venturing about Shah’s potential role in the ICC and the possibility of moving the ICC headquarters from Dubai to Mumbai. Such a change is not on his agenda, but he is believed to be interested in bringing in changes within the ICC, especially after the chaotic conduct of the recent Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies. At the annual conference, the timeline for the chairman election is expected to be dignified.