Is Jay Shah the new ICC Chairman? A Suspense till November 2024 Elections
There have been so many speculations in recent times about the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) secretary and ACC (Asian Cricket Council) president Jay Shah participating in the race for the ICC Chairman election scheduled in November 2024. However, Jay Shah has remained silent and hasn’t stated anything about his intention to compete. The Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah has been working as the secretary of BCCI and the head of ACC since 2019.
Moreover, the International Cricket Council (ICC) plans to hold the annual conference from 19th to 22nd July 2024 in Colombo, four months ahead of the elections to decide the new chairman of ICC. But, the new chairman will be selected only in November.
It is expected that Jay Shah is expected to become the youngest leader of the world’s governing body in cricket, having three months to decide if he wishes to relocate to Dubai, where the ICC headquarters is located.
Currently, New Zealand’s Greg Barclay is the ICC chairman and has held the position for 4 years (24th November 2020) after receiving support from Jay Shah. As the elections are approaching in a few months, Jay Shah could be a promising choice to become the next chairman of the committee.
Jay Shah vs Greg Barclay: Chances to become the ICC Chairman
Greg Barclay is eligible to continue as ICC Chairman for another term, but Jay Shah’s chances to get appointed are higher if he decides to contest in the upcoming elections. At the same time, rumors are spreading that Jay Shah might shift the ICC’s headquarters from Dubai to Mumbai after becoming the chairman of the ICC.
Also, the international media has revealed that Jay Shah will be aiming to make major changes in the committee. Especially, after receiving severe criticism due to the disappointing management of the recently completed ICC T20 World Cup 2024 held in the West Indies and the USA, Shah strives to bring huge improvements in the future ICC tournaments. One of the main reasons for receiving negative feedback was the sub-par standards of the USA pitches for hosting a grand ICC tournament, which made it threatening for the batters to face uneven bounce and pace.
Interestingly, Jay Shah would rank as the third Indian after N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar to win the ICC Chairman position.
Jay Shah’s chances to become BCCI President
The BCCI’s rules explain that once Jay Shah’s tenure as ICC chairman concludes, he will still have the chance to become the president of BCCI in 2028. It is only possible to have experience of more than 9 years as a member of the governing body to fulfill the eligibility criteria for achieving the top position in BCCI.
However, Jay Shah has experience of 9-plus years in BCCI since his entry in 2015 by working in the finances and marketing department.
Also, there are chances that Jay Shah could initially accept the position of ICC chairman and later change to become the BCCI’s head. There have been several examples of the same scenario in the past where the Indians held leadership roles in the ICC and later moved to BCCI to lead the committee. Possibly, Jay Shah could follow a similar path to the former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Revised Tenure for ICC Chairman
ICC has changed the tenure of a chairman from three terms of two years each to two terms of three years each. It means, that once Jay Shah is elected as the ICC chairman, it will be confirmed that he will remain in the position for three years.
Election for the Associate Member Directors at the Annual Conference
The timeline for the chairman election is expected to be finalized at the Annual conference on July 19, where the election for the Associate Member Directors is scheduled to take place.
A total number of 45 Associate members are categorized into the voting and non-voting sections across five geographic zones namely Africa, the Americas, East Asia Pacific, Asia, and Europe.
Currently, 11 candidates are aiming for the three positions on the ICC Board of Directors, each serving a tenure of two years. At present, these are the three directors namely Pankaj Khimji from Oman, Imran Khwaja from Singapore, and Neil Speight from Bermuda.
The electronic voting system allows voters to vote for their selected candidates. A manual voting system using secret ballots will only be implemented if the electronic system fails to function properly.
If a tie occurs, the participating candidates will be asked to agree upon who should be selected. If the members do not agree, finally a coin toss session will be conducted to determine the eligible candidate.
The same procedure might be followed for the upcoming ICC Chairman elections in November 2024.
