Twelve directors of the ICC Board have demonstrated solidarity and persuaded Shashank Manohar to get back on the ICC Board as its chairman till the world cricket body’s annual conference to be held at the conclusion of the Champions Trophy in London in June. The Directors — nine full members and three associate members — impressed upon him to withdraw his resignation or defer his decision to resign until the changes to the ICC Constitution and Financial model are carried out.
On Friday, the ICC confirmed that Manohar will remain as its chairman till June.
It was on March 15 — the day Manohar communicated to the ICC CEO David Richardson that he has resigned — that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameron got proactive, began to speak to the other Board members, and set into motion an initiative to impress upon Manohar to take the leadership of a fresh administrative and financial reforms project that had outrightly rejected the 2014 resolution that vested all executive powers with the cricket boards of India, Australia and England.
- Within a week, 12 members of the ICC Board that included the nine full voting members in Australia, England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, England and West Indies, and the three associate members in Singapore, Ireland and Namibia passed a resolution that Manohar has said he had to respect.
None of the ICC Board members were ready to accept the “personal reasons” explanation from Manohar on his sudden resignation.
Cameron’s attempt to get Manohar to change his decision gathered momentum and crucially, the numbers. Within a week, 12 members of the ICC Board that included the nine full voting members in Australia, England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, England and West Indies, and the three associate members in Singapore, Ireland and Namibia passed a resolution that Manohar has said he had to respect.
READ: Will the ICC tweak the constitution and financial model?
Cricket Australia’s David Peever, England’s Giles Clarke, Pakistan’s Shahryar Khan, South Africa’s Chris Nenzani and Haroon Lorghat, the ICCI CEO Richardson and Singapore’s Imran Khawaja were in constant touch with Manohar, reasoning out that he is vital to the final execution of the ICC Special Working Group’s proposals.
On Thursday (March 23) evening, Manohar received a call from Khawaja, Singapore’s associate member representative in the 15-member ICC Board, not just to persuade Manohar to withdraw his resignation as chairman of the ICC, but also to convey a decision taken by the 12 members. The Sri Lanka Cricket did not respond to the initiative taken by the ICC Board.
The ICC’s press release said: “ICC chairman Shashank Manohar has today agreed to defer his recent resignation following an ICC Board resolution to request him to remain in post was passed with overwhelming support earlier this week. In a significant show of support for Mr Manohar, the Board asked him to withdraw his resignation or at the very least defer it until the ongoing process relating to governance and financial restructuring are completed.’’
Talking to Sportstar, while on a holiday in Goa, Manohar said: “Not a day has gone without a call from people like Cameron, Nenzani, Lorghat, Khawaja...Shahryar Khan has been communicating with me almost everyday. I have told them that I will remain as a chairman only till the transition period.
“I respect the sentiments expressed by the (ICC) Directors and the confidence they have reposed in me. In the light of this, and although my decision to depart due to personal reasons has not changed, I am willing to continue as chairman till the responsibility as per the resolution is complete. I have a duty to work with my colleagues to enable a smooth transition and continue our work on the governance of the ICC,’’ the ICC quoted Manohar in its press release.
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