The upcoming ICC Annual Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Friday is going to be a significant event for the cricketing world. Speculations have already grown on whether the current secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Jay Shah would replace Greg Barclay from New Zealand as the next chairman of the governing body.
One of the major topics to be discussed during the event will be the financial losses that the ICC faced for hosting the recently concluded Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 game in the United States of America (USA).
Reports have already suggested that the losses amount to more than 20 million dollars, which was later disbursed on the eve of the competition. The nine-point agenda of the AGM does not include the financial details, but it will be more of a ‘post-event report’ which is a standard operating procedure of the ICC.
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Along with that, India’s participation in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and whether they will make a trip to Pakistan for the event are always expected to be discussed.
Jay Shah could return to take over as board president in 2028
The appointment of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) new auditor is on the agenda, for discussions with the members of the ICC. Along with that, reports from the associate member’s meetings, and the presentation of ICC development awards are also taken care of.
The biggest point, however, will be whether the Blue Bridge will make their trip to Pakistan, despite having political issues between the two countries. India is ready to make planning of the hybrid model for the event, hosting their games in either Sri Lanka or Dubai.
The Pakistan board’s head Mohsin Naqvi however, isn’t ready to shift any of the games outside the border. The draft schedule has displayed that India perhaps is going to play all of their games in Lahore, to make easy transport for them.
However, the ICC sources have confirmed that the main interest for the meeting is when whether Jay Shah will take over the reins of the world body replacing Barclay or whether the latter would continue till 2025.
‘It’s not about how but when, as he still has one year left as BCCI secretary before his cooling off period in Indian board starts in 2025 as per the constitution, However, if he has to take over in 2025, then Barclay can’t complete his third term of two years from December 2024 to December 2026.’ The source revealed.
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There are also speculations that the ICC’s chairmanship term could be changed from three terms of two years each to two terms of three years, which will anyway allow the total term to remain six years.
In that case, the current BCCI secretary Jay Shah will be able to complete his six years in his current role and take over as ICC chairman in 2025 for three years when he will be in the cooling-off period in the BCCI. In 2028, he could return and take over as the board president.