The ICC and IDI Boards, under the chairmanship of Mr Narayanaswami Srinivasan, met on 27 and 28 June during the ICC Annual Conference week in Melbourne.
The Board noted with concern the number of bowlers with suspected illegal bowling actions currently playing cricket and noted the recommendations of the ICC Cricket Committee and the CEC to revise processes to encourage umpires and referees to identify suspect bowlers with greater confidence, to use the expertise of the bio-mechanics working in this area to assume a greater role during the assessment process, and to allow for ongoing scrutiny of bowlers once they have been identified under the ICC procedures.
The ICC Board will receive a further update at its next meeting
Listed are some of the other decisions to come out of that meeting:
Future Tours Programme
The ICC Board noted the significant progress made on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) that has been extended through to 2023 and expressed satisfaction that there was now more certainty around long-term scheduling with a reasonable balance between home and away matches for all 10 teams as well as between the three formats.
The ICC Board agreed with the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) recommendation that the Members must sign all bilateral agreements through to 2023 before the next ICC meeting, which takes place in October.
T20I status
The ICC Board agreed to give T20I status to the Netherlands and Nepal, both of which qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014. This means there are now eight Associate sides with T20I status,. The other six are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which already have T20I status by virtue of having ODI status.
ICC Cricket Committee recommendations
It also concurred with the view that international venues must be set up to their maximum possible boundary dimensions, as per the playing conditions, to help maintain an appropriate balance between bat and the ball.
The ICC Board noted a number of other changes approved by the CEC, which met on Tuesday. The major changes to the ICC playing conditions for international cricket will come into effect from 1 October 2014:
•A bowler who has spent time off the field in a Test will be allowed to resume bowling after he has either spent the same period of time on the field as he spent off the field, or he has been back on the field for 30 overs, whichever occurs first.
•A T20I innings will be scheduled to span 85 minutes, instead of 80 minutes.
•The trial regulation allowing an 80-over top-up of unsuccessful DRS player reviews will be extended for another 12 months.
Integrity issues
The ICC Board received the annual anti-corruption report from Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit Chairman, who repeated the need for the ICC to maintain its vigilance in the area of anti-corruption and also sustain the current high levels of education and strategy of prevention.
The ICC Board discussed and agreed on the Terms of Reference for a review of cricket’s anti-corruption processes and resources at both international and domestic level. The review group, which is aimed at improving the structures and resources, will be chaired by ICC Chief Executive David Richardson and will also include ECB Chief Executive David Collier, BCCI representative Sundar Raman, James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia Chief Executive, and an independent expert.
Other matters
The ICC Board also received an update on the encouraging progress in preparation and ticket sales for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February. New Zealand and Sri Lanka will feature in the opening match in Christchurch, while on the same day Australia will host England in Melbourne, which will also stage the final on 29 March.
The ICC Board ratified a two-year contract extension as ICC Chief Executive Mr Richardson and his contract will now run through to at least the end of June 2016.
On Thursday, the ICC Board had confirmed that the USA Cricket Association (USACA) was the ICC’s recognised member in the USA and approved the Development Committee’s recommendation that Oman Cricket (OC) should become the 38th Associate Member of the ICC. It also confirmed the suspension of the Affiliate Membership of Brunei and removal of Tonga as an Affiliate Member.
It also noted the Associate and Affiliate Members’ decision to re-elect Singapore’s Imran Khawaja and Neil Speight of Bermuda for another two years as their representatives to the Board, while Cricket Scotland chairman Keith Oliver was replaced by Francois Erasmus of Namibia.
The ICC Board consists of the nominated representatives of each of the 10 Full Members plus three elected Associate Member representatives. The ICC Chairman, who is a nominee of a Full Member, chairs proceedings, which also include the ICC President and the ICC Chief Executive.
ICC Chairman Narayanaswami Srinivasan
ICC President Mustafa Kamal
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson
Australia Wally Edwards
Bangladesh Mahbubul Anam*
England Giles Clarke
India Narayanaswami Srinivasan
New Zealand Martin Snedden
Pakistan Najam Sethi
South Africa Chris Nenzani
Sri Lanka Jayantha Dharmadasa
West Indies Dave Cameron
Zimbabwe Peter Chingoka
Associate Member Director (Bermuda) Neil Speight
Associate Member Director (Namibia) Francois Erasmus
Associate Member Director (Singapore) Imran Khawaja
