Ray Mali has been appointed acting president of the International Cricket Council following the death of Percy Sonn last month.
Mali, who has served as president of Cricket South Africa (CSA, formerly the United Cricket Board of South Africa) since 2003, will assume the role of acting president for approximately 13 months until the ICC's annual conference of 2008.
Cricket South Africa nominated Mali on Thursday and this has received final approval by the ICC Board. The Board had asked CSA to make a nomination in line with a recommendation made by the ICC's Governance Review Committee (GRC) after its meeting in Cape Town on June 1.
Mali will assume the role of acting president with immediate effect and in so doing he steps down as president of CSA, also with immediate effect.
Mali will exercise all the powers and duties of the president while in office and his taking the role does not prejudice his chances of being appointed ICC president in the future.
Reacting to his appointment, Mali said: "I take this assignment as an honour and a big challenge. I feel lucky to be taking over at a time when the game is in such good shape. It is also a privilege to succeed Percy, somebody who was a good friend and a person who worked so hard for the betterment of this great game.
"I am fully prepared to commit myself to cricket and to take the ICC strategic plan forward during my time in office. In order to do that we will have to work together as a team and I look forward to the support and assistance from everyone at the ICC in Dubai as well as representatives of the ICC's Full Members, Associates and Affiliates," he added.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "I was delighted when the ICC Board approved the GRC's recommendation that Cricket South Africa should nominate the Acting President.
"As the new head of our global game, he is a worthy successor to his fellow countryman Percy Sonn and also to the other distinguished figures that have filled the role at the head of the ICC previously.
The appointment of the next President of the ICC, who will take office at annual conference in 2008, will be made in due course.
The GRC is made up of Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor (chairman of the GRC), Peter Chingoka (chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket), HRH Tunku Imran (president of Malaysian Cricket Association and an Associate Member representative on the ICC Board) and Malcolm Speed (ICC Chief Executive).
The GRC reviewed both the current ICC Constitution (in place since June 2005) and the one under which Sonn was nominated as ICC president.
In the previous Memorandum and Articles of Association of the ICC it said: "In the event that the President shall, for any reason, be unable to fulfill or continue to fulfill his duties, the most recent Nominating Member to be selected in accordance with this Article shall nominate a person as Acting President..."
In recognition of this Article and following formal correspondence from CSA, New Zealand Cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket and the Board of Control for Cricket in India along the same lines, the GRC formally proposed by circular resolution that the ICC Board should invite CSA to nominate a person to be appointed as acting president to the end of Sonn's original two-year term, which was up to the Annual Conference of 2008.