ICC's green signal for Imtiaz Patel as CEO

The Board members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) has selected South African Imtiaz Patel as its preferred candidate for the post of ICC Chief Executive at a meeting held in Dubai on Monday.

The Board seconded the recommendation of the four-person sub-committee who have been given the responsibility of finding an apt replacement for Malcolm Speed, who has been ICC Chief Executive since 2001.

Speed will formally step down at the ICC’s annual conference in June and Patel will be invited to take over at the same meeting for an initial period of three years.

“We are delighted that Imtiaz is the Board’s choice for the post of next ICC Chief Executive. I have no doubt that if he accepts the position he will do a great job,” said ICC President Ray Mali after the conclusion of day one of the two-day meeting.

Patel, 43, is currently chief executive of Super Sport International in his native South Africa and has previously held directorships of the United Cricket Board of South Africa as well as other sports organisations including Super Sport United soccer club in Pretoria and Sharks Rugby in Kwazulu Natal.

Mr Patel is originally from the town of Schweizer Reneke in the North-West Province of South Africa. He studied education and was a teacher for four years in Soweto where he was also involved in developing cricket. He is married with two sons aged 12 and 14.

ICC President-Elect David Morgan, who will take over from Mali at the annual conference, said: “I am pleased that the ICC Board has approved this appointment. We are now negotiating the details of Patel’s engagement as our Chief Executive. In anticipation of an early completion to that negotiation, I do look forward to working closely with him during my presidency.”

“These are exciting and busy times for world cricket and I know that Mr 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,” Morgan added.

The ICC has been engaged in an extensive selection process to find the next Chief Executive. Global recruitment firm Egon Zehnder International was appointed to conduct the initial stages of the process and then it presented a short-list of candidates to the sub-committee.

The sub-committee, which consisted of Mali, Morgan, Sharad Pawar and Creagh O’Connor, with Dr Nasim Ashraf were present at the meeting as a non-voting observer, heard a presentation from Egon Zehnder International and then met to decide upon its favoured candidate.

The sub-committee made its recommendation to the Board and the candidature of Patel was approved.