Andrew
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairperson Tavengwa Mukuhlani, who believes he has the experience to take over the leadership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and become the voice of smaller members and associates, is potentially set to go head-to-head with incumbent Greg Barclay in the election for the ICC chairmanship scheduled for November 12 to 13 in Melbourne, Australia.
ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Mukuhlani, who has been on the ICC board for a long time as the ZC representative, has declared his intention to enter the race.
However, he has to get enough support from smaller full member countries as well as the associates.
Initially, Imran Khwaja, the ICC deputy chairperson, reportedly wanted to stand but is believed to have since withdrawn.
Khwaja suffered a fractious defeat in the 2020 election against Barclay.
Back then, Barclay secured influential support from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which paved the way for the New Zealander to win by 11 votes to five, in what turned out to be a two-round contest.
In July this year, after the ICC annual meeting, Barclay declared he was ready to contest for a second two-year term.
He is bullish about his prospects, especially as election rules have been tweaked to allow the winner to be decided on the basis of a simple majority.
In 2020, the winning candidate needed a two-thirds majority from the 16-strong ballot.
The 16 votes are from the ICC board of 12 full members, one independent director (Indra Nooyi) and three associate directors, who include Khwaja.
Khwaja had received six votes in the first round two years ago, but Cricket South Africa’s vote in the second round tipped the contest in Barclay’s direction.
Once beaten, twice shy. Khwaja, one of the most experienced directors on the board, weighed his options and eventually decided not to contest this time, despite having secured the mandatory one vote to get nominated.
While it could not be confirmed on October 20, the nomination deadline day, Mukuhlani, too, had been proposed by one of the ICC directors.
And now he has the second vote, enough to support a nomination.
While he is keen to fight the election, Mukuhlani will likely take a final call this week once he senses the kind of support he could expect.
Mukuhlani is part of the ICC’s Audit Committee and chairperson of the Membership Committee.
He is also part of the global body’s Olympics working group, which is tasked with pushing for cricket’s entry in the Summer Games.
Popularly known as “Doc” in ICC circles, Mukuhlani believes he has the experience to take over the leadership and become a voice for smaller members and associates.
He is hedging his chances mainly on getting support from a majority of Asian countries, except for the BCCI.
At the moment, it is believed that the BCCI vote is leaning towards Barclay, but options remain open till election date.
The election is planned to take place during the ICC meetings scheduled for November 12 to 13 in Melbourne.
Mukuhlani’s manifesto revolves around striving for equity among members and advocating governance changes.
It aligns with the vision Khwaja has had for several years and was, to an extent, able to put into effect during the four years Shashank Manohar was ICC chairperson (2016-2020).
Both men worked closely to dismantle the Big Three power structure and put in place a fresh financial model where smaller countries received an enhanced share from the ICC revenue pool.
That pot has now grown much bigger after Disney Star bought ICC broadcast rights for men’s and women’s events between 2024 and 2027.
The deal, to broadcast in the India market only, is reportedly worth over US$3 billion, considerably more than what the ICC got in the previous rights cycle (which was for eight years, and globally).
Barclay, too, is drumming up support and is believed to have put a re-look at the financial distribution model as well as modifying the governance model at the forefront of his strategic plan for a second term.
Other than looking at enhancing individual countries’ share of the pie, Barclay wants to invest money in strategic funds as well as in the promotion of women’s cricket. — cricinfo.
Online Reporter