FICA 'disappointed' at ICC's lack of leadership as cricket's governing body yet to figure out chairman election process

Ruing the lack of effective leadership at the ICC, global players’ body Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) said on Saturday that it is very “disappointing” that the top cricket body has not yet figured a process to elect the next chairman. The ICC Board is yet to attain unanimity on whether the next chairman will be elected by simple majority or the existing two-third majority of the 17-strong board members. England and Wales Cricket Board’s outgoing chairman Colin Graves remains favourite although BCCI president Sourav Ganguly could be a contender if he shows interest which hasn’t been the case till now. “It is a very disappointing situation at the moment with the lack of leadership at international level in our sport. It is a very poor reflection on the game actually. The previous chairman (Shashank Manohar) stepped down a couple of months ago now, but prior to that I’m not sure how engaged he was there for some time,” FICA head Heath Mills told _ESPNCricinf_o. Lack of decisive leadership and absence of independent directors, save one (Indra Nooyi of Pepsico), who can have a neutral perspective is the biggest reason for this delay, feels Mills. “And sadly it appears that the ICC Board can’t even organise itself to determine a process to elect a new chairman, let alone appoint someone. “It is really disappointing especially at this particular juncture in time when we need global leadership given the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on many countries and the fact the current events cycle ends in a couple of years,” Mills said. Mills said that every board member is concerned about their respective country’s interests than thinking about ICC’s benefit. “It just makes you suspicious of what’s going in the background and that people are acting in self-interest as we’ve seen so many times in the past. It’s just more of the same and it is sad,” Mills said. Mills said that it is high time that one takes a look at the governance structure. “Maybe it’s time look at the governance structure. There are 17 [directors] on the ICC Board and only one of them is independent at moment. “So, of course, you are probably going to get that dynamic where people act in their own interest and not in what is best for the sport globally.”