ICC chairman Shashank Manohar wrote about his resignation to chief executive David Richardson © IDI/Getty Images
Shashank Manohar, the person chiefly responsible for trying to reduce the influence wielded by the Big Three, has resigned from his post as ICC chairman because of personal reasons after only eight months in office.
In a letter addressed to ICC chief executive David Richardson, Manohar said: “I have tried to do my best and have tried to be fair and impartial in deciding matters in the functioning of the Board and in matters related to Member Boards along with the able support of all Directors.
“However, for personal reasons it is not possible for me to hold the august office of ICC Chairman and hence I am tendering my resignation as Chairman with immediate effect. I take this opportunity to thank all the Directors, the Management and staff of ICC for supporting me wholeheartedly. I wish ICC all the very best and hope it achieves greater heights in future.”
Manohar was elected unopposed as the ICC’s first independent chairman – one not affiliated to any of its member boards – in May 2016 for a two-year term, and since then had led the effort to decentralise the power held by the BCCI, CA and ECB.
In February this year, the ICC had passed in principle a new constitution that undid much of the imbalance in power and finances the BCCI, CA and ECB had attempted to create in 2014, but a final decision was to be taken at the ICC Board’s next round of meetings in April. Manohar, however, will now not be the head of the ICC at those meetings.
The ICC confirmed receipt of Manohar’s resignation and said: “The ICC Board will assess the situation and next steps before making a further announcement.”
When Manohar replaced N Srinivasan as BCCI president in November 2015, he also became the ICC chairman by virtue of being the head of the Indian board. Later that month, Manohar spoke out against the Big Three revamp of the ICC: “I don’t agree with the three major countries bullying the ICC,” Manohar has said. “That’s my personal view, because as I have always said, an institution is bigger than individuals.”
In his dual role as BCCI president and ICC chairman, Manohar was the person behind the move to have an independent chairman head the ICC, the first step of the rollback that he would try to push through. On May 10, 2016, in the wake of the Lodha Committee’s report that recommended a severe shake up of the administrative structures of the BCCI, Mahohar quit as board president. Two days later, he was elected unopposed as the first independent chairman of the ICC.
The ICC executive board will probably pick Manohar’s replacement as chairman at the next round of meetings from April 24. The replacement will be a nominee from one of the Full Members but should be a person who does not hold a position with his home board.
It is not yet clear, however, whether the ICC will conduct a new election to choose Manohar’s replacement. According to criteria put in place when Manohar was elected independent chairman, all present and past ICC directors were eligible to contest the election. Candidates could be nominated by fellow ICC directors, and only one nominee is allowed per director. Any nominee with the support of at least two Full Member directors is eligible to stand for election.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo