No problem with Singh say ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have dismissed the notion that the appointment of Chetram Singh as the next West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president will cause a major problem. Singh a bookmaker in his homeland of Guyana is the only nominee for the post of President of the WICB following the withdrawal of Willie Rodriguez earlier this week. Brendan McClements, General Manager —- Corporate Affairs International Cricket Council told Newsday that there was precedent in the past where the president does not attend meetings. Instead, he utilises the expertise of others, and it has worked. “It is probably worth noting that there is nothing in the ICC rules that specifies that an individual Board must nominate their chairman or president to be their representative to the ICC,” McClements said from England.  “On many occasions, boards have nominated people other than those in this role to represent them to the ICC.  In some cases this has been a person who is not even a director of the individual board,” he added. “ Bob Cowper has represented Australia in the past despite not being a director of the ACB and the current president, Ehsan Mani, first joined the ICC as Pakistan’s nominee despite not being a director of the PCB.
 
In fact, he was nominated to the presidency by Pakistan without being a director of the PCB so such a situation is not unusual,” noted McClements. “I am sure that this is a situation that the WICB will be able to manage should the circumstance arise that Singh is elected and unable to attend the ICC meetings.” On the question that there was never a problem with Singh being a bookmaker as a director of the West Indies Cricket Board in the past, McClements was quick to emphasise: “This situation is actually very straightforward and hinges on the fact that the WICB and the ICC are two completely separate bodies. “One looks after cricket in the West Indies, one looks after cricket internationally. Each is governed by their own constitutions, articles of association or whatever rules that either body has put in place and each have their own rules as to who can and who can’t take a position on the respective boards. “In the case of the ICC during the course of last year all their members, including the WICB, put in place a Code of Ethics that, in part, means that a person who is a bookmaker is unlikely to be able to sit as a director on the ICC,” he said. McClements also disclosed to Newsday that the countries made a decision to adopt this Code of Ethics to deal only with directors of the ICC.

It has nothing to do with individual boards. Decisions on the rules governing directors for the individual boards are entirely matters for the boards concerned. “As I understand it the same code does not exists and that is entirely reasonable given the different roles and responsibilities of the two organisations.” It should be of no surprise to anyone that there are different rules and regulations that apply to the ICC and WICB. “As I said they are different organisations with different responsibilities and therefore different ways of operating,” said McClements.