Najam Sethi likely to take over as interim ICC president

Najam Sethi, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) executive committee, is likely to become the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) interim president, filling the post left vacant by Mustafa Kamal’s resignation earlier this month. Sethi, who is currently in Dubai ahead of the ICC meeting, is a favourite to replace Kamal, reports espncricinfo. [caption id=“attachment_2196478” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Najam Sethi. AFP[/caption] Sethi, who is also the former chairman of the PCB, was slated to take over from Kamal as the ICC president for a period of 12 months from July 1. However, he had expressed his willingness to take on the role for an interim period before formally taking charge in July. Bangladeshi Kamal’s resignation from a largely ceremonial position came after a public falling out with the ICC. It stemmed from the India-Bangladesh quarter-final at the World Cup, when he had strongly criticised the umpires – even questioning their motives over a dubious no-ball call that went against his country. Kamal had also protested after he was passed over for the duty of handing over the trophy to the World Cup winners, a decision he said went against his right as ICC president. ICC chairman and former Indian cricket board BCCI boss N. Srinivasan handed over the trophy to winning Australian captain Michael Clarke after the World Cup final on March 29 in Melbourne. According to the ICC’s rules, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had the option of nominating a replacement for Kamal, who is a former president of the Bangladesh board. On April 5, BCB president Nazmul Hassan had said the board was still undecided over a replacement. “We discussed the matter in our meeting. I haven’t seen anyone showing interest,” Hassan had said. “The person whom we nominate ultimately has to give a 10-minute speech in one meeting. We haven’t selected anyone but we still have a bit of time to make our mind,” Hassan said. “We will also look into the ICC’s constitution to find out what could be done. We will let you know soon what we decide, whether to send anyone’s name as nomination or not.” IANS