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Dubai: Imtiaz Patel, a South African of Indian origin, will be the new International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive.
A four-member sub-committee, made up of Ray Mali, the president of the ICC, David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, Sharad Pawar of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Creagh O'Connor, chief executive of Cricket Australia (CA) picked Patel as the successor to Malcolm Speed, who will step down soon after the ICC Annual Conference in June.
Inderjit Singh Bindra, the former president of the BCCI, was favoured to clinch the post to strengthen India's hold in world cricket.
"We conducted a worldwide search for the suitable candidate for the post. We came up with nearly 50 candidates, then we shortlisted 12 candidates from it and finally it was brought down to 6. Patel was the unanimous choice," said Morgan.
When asked whether Bindra lost out due to the UAE labour law which stipulates that work permit will not be issued to anyone over the age of 60, Morgan said: "Bindra was among the preferred candidates and since Patel was the unanimous choice we did not have to look into the law issue."
Compromise choice
It is understood that Patel emerged as the compromise candidate over many others in the end.
"We still have to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract with Imtiaz. The initial contract will be for a term of three years," added Morgan.
Forty-three-year-old Patel is currently chief executive of SuperSport International, which is based in South Africa. He hails from a town called Schweizer Reneke in the North-West Province of South Africa. He was a teacher for four years in Soweto and got involved in the development of cricket.
He worked closely with former United Cricket Board of South Africa's managing director Dr Ali Bacher. He was also involved with organisations like SuperSport United soccer club in Pretoria and Sharks Rugby in Kwazulu Natal.
"Patel is the right man to take the International Cricket Council to the next level. Whatever he has touched he has succeeded. He started cricket in the small town of Soweto and he showed how he can shown how he can unify the people," said Mali.
Patel had a distinguished career in South Africa and I am sure he will succeed in the new role too." he added.
"These are exciting and busy times for world cricket and I know that Patel will bring his wide range of skills and broad knowledge of the game to the table in a way that will benefit cricket as a whole," said Mali.
Patel joined Supersport in 1991 and rose through the ranks to be its chief executive.
According to information, Pawar tried hard to push Bindra's name. Once he realised that Bindra may lose out, he returned to India before the board meeting. In the end, it was decided that Bindra would take up a new role in the ICC as principal advisor and will operate from India. He will provide guidance to the ICC officials when needed.
Morgan refused to reveal the names of the six candidates who were considered for the post.
The board meeting will enter its second day today and Speed will make announcements of the board's decision on the new format for 2011 World Cup and whether more technological aid will be provided to the umpires.
Patel is the right man to take the International Cricket Council to the next level. Whatever he has touched he has succeeded."
Ray Mali
ICC President
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