ICC asks member boards to become autonomous

The ICC on Thursday decided to go the International Olympic Committee way and told its member boards to become autonomous, failing which it might consider imposing sanctions on them.

The ICC Annual Conference which concluded in Honk Kong on Thursday, noted that as per the principles of modern sporting governance, the national federations should be autonomous and free from government interference.

The ICC also said that all its member will have to implement the new provisions before the next annual conference in June 2012 and a further 12 months time would be given to the national boards before considering sanctions against them.

"This is a significant step towards achieving best practice and, together with the independent governance review, I am excited by the commitment of the ICC to introduce best possible corporate governance," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

Although he acknowledged the disappointment of ICC's associate and affiliate members for not increasing the number of competing teams in the ICC World Twenty20, Lorgat said the international body was committed to make cricket a global game.

While on one hand, the associate and affiliate members welcomed the decision to stick to a 14-team format for the 2015 World Cup, they criticised the ICC's decision to continue with a 12-team format for the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and the 2014 edition in Bangladesh.

"The ICC acknowledges their disappointment but the decision to have 14 teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup and 12-teams in the ICC World Twenty20 is a return to the current format for ICC events," the ICC CEO explained.

"We know that development is central to the ICC and our new Strategic Plan 2011-15 is designed to build a bigger, better global game," Lorgat added.

Meanwhile, both Lorgat and ICC president Sharad Pawar thanked the members for their contribution to the development of the sport.

Pawar said whatever recommendations the ICC board have made during the four-day annual conference was in the game's interest.

"Tough decisions often have to be made and this week has been no different. However, I am confident that we have made decisions which are in the best interests of cricket. There have been challenges, as always, but the great community of cricket showed that it was ready and capable of facing those challenges," he concluded.