Greg Barclay elected ICC Chairman for second time; Jay Shah heads F&CA committee

On Saturday, Greg Barclay of New Zealand was unanimously re-elected as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman for a second two-year span. Besides Barclay's re-election, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah was appointed as the head of ICC's all-powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs (F&CA) panel at the board conference. Barclay was unopposed following the withdrawal of Tavengwa Mukuhlani of Zimbabwe from the process. The ICC Board reaffirmed its total support to the New Zealander to continue at the helm.

"It is an honour to be re-elected as the Chair of the International Cricket Council, and I would like to thank my fellow ICC Directors for their support. Over the last two years, we have made significant strides forward with launching our global growth strategy that provides clear direction to build a successful and sustainable future for our sport," said Barclay upon his re-appointment.

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"It is an exciting time to be involved in cricket, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Members to strengthen the game in our core markets and grow it beyond that, ensuring more of the world can enjoy cricket," added Barclay, an Auckland-based commercial lawyer, who was initially elected as the ICC Chairman in November 2020. He was previously the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chairman and was an ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 director.

Barclay being appointed unopposed also means that the robust BCCI backed him in the 17-member board. "I would like to congratulate Greg on his re-appointment as ICC Chair, as the continuity his leadership will provide is in the sport's best interests. I, therefore, decided to withdraw my candidacy," expressed Mukuhlani.

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Jay Shah to head F&CA committee
Shah will have the obligation of running ICC's most influential committee. The F&CA committee takes all the significant financial policy decisions before the ICC board ratifies them. "Each member accepted Jay as the head of the F&CA committee. It is an equally powerful sub-committee apart from the ICC chair [Barclay]," an ICC source reported to PTI.

It includes the revenue sharing among the member countries and the top sponsorship agreements that the global body inks throughout the year. An ICC Board member always heads the F&CA committee, and Shah's election makes it transparent that he will represent the BCCI on the ICC Board. The F&CA head's role used to be India's during the N Srinivasan era, but during Shashank Manohar's term as ICC chairman, the BCCI's power and might had greatly lessened.

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In fact, during the Committee of Administrators' (CoA) period, there was a point when BCCI didn't even represent in the F&CA panel. Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was an F&CA committee member till last year. "India is a commercial hub of global cricket with more than 70 per cent sponsorship coming from the region. BCCI must always head an ICC F&CA," the ICC source added.

Ganguly to remain ICC Cricket Committee head
In the meantime, legendary former Indian skipper Ganguly, who finished his tenure as the BCCI president last month, will stay as the ICC's Cricket Committee chief.