ICC to redefine president's role

The International Cricket Council is set for an overhaul of its governing body.

Proposals for the reshaping of the presidency and creation of a new post of chairman have been accepted in principle by the board, chief executive Haroon Lorgat announced on Monday.

At the conclusion of the ICC's two-day executive meeting in Dubai, Lorgat revealed the board's decision to adopt several "constructive recommendations" made by the Woolf report - a 60-page report into the organisation's governance authored by Lord Woolf - one of which was to bring into effect "constitutional amendments" for a split between the roles of president and chairman.

The second related to funding towards ICC member nations, with the inclusion of a Targeted Performance Programme to determine the extent of financial benefits awarded to individual boards.

Speaking at a press conference, Lorgat said: "It is significant that the decision to split the presidency from the role of chairman of the board has been decided.

"At the last meeting the resolution was passed and the board has now confirmed the constitutional amendments to give effect to the splitting of that role.

"Those amendments will now be taken forward to the annual conference at the end of June for adoption. Once that is done, it will be a significant step towards the reshaping of the governance of the ICC and its board.

"On targeting funding towards those who need it, the board adopted that at the last meeting and has made further progress in adopting a Targeted Performance Programme."

The board also agreed to increase the number of teams participating in the World T20 from 12 to 16, with the changes set to take place from the 2014 tournament onwards, which is to be held in Bangladesh.

However, Lorgat announced that the Champions Trophy, the ICC's second-biggest 50-over competition, will not be staged after the 2013 edition.

Meanwhile, the World Test Championship, which had been postponed until further notice due to a fixture clash with the Champions Trophy, is back under consideration with the ICC.

Lorgat said: "We've said for a while that we'd like one championship event for each format.

"We're including the Test championship in that, and we have the World Cup for 50-over cricket. So we're not planning to hold the Champions Trophy in the future."

At a time when the world game has been through the extremes of successful tournaments and controversy surrounding spot fixing, Lorgat insisted the game was in the right shape.

The chief executive also gave his backing to the five-day and 50-over formats, despite claims from many corners that twenty20's dominance would mean the end of the traditional game.

"You may not want to believe me, but I think the world game is in a very, very good shape," Lorgat said.

"I genuinely believe that and the feedback that I get from external sources supports that. Sponsors, fans and even the media, they all tell me how good the game currently is.

"You might recall there were serious naysayers about Test cricket and 50-over cricket in years gone by. We don't get too much of that anymore. I think there's some seriously exciting Test cricket played at the moment.

"We know there is a lot of finance around the global game. Some members are getting more value for their rights.

"We are preparing for our future rights. I'm buoyant and optimistic, and sponsors, at the moment, are very ready to renew with us, post the World Cup. So I am quite satisfied, and I think the game is in very good shape."