Draft proposal could hit a snag

With Cricket South Africa making public its opposition to the revamp of ICC's structure, formulated by the triumvirate of BCCI, Cricket Australia and the ECB, there is a possibility of the proposal getting blocked should it come to an early vote at the ICC board meeting on January 29.

The proposal, it is understood, was only known to a handful of senior officials from the Big Three who formed part of the "working group" that drafted the document. For it to progress from merely being a proposal or a recommendation - which any individual of the ICC can make - it would need to be approved by a majority during an ICC board meeting.

There is a possibility that the draft "position paper" could be treated more than a routine recommendation. Considering that the draft of the F&CA "working group" has far-reaching changes in administrative structures, financial distribution and the creation of an entirely new commercial wing of the ICC, it could require a "special meeting" to pass what the ICC's constitution refers to as a "special resolution".

To get a special resolution passed, eight out of the 10 Full Members will need to back the proposal according to the ICC Constitution. Article 6.12 a)3)b) in the constitution, which deals with voting on a special resolution, reads: "Resolution proposed at Conference or at a Special Meeting shall be deemed to have been carried as a Special Resolution only if not less than three-quarters of the aggregate number of votes exercisable by all the Full Members shall have been cast in favour of the Resolution, irrespective of whether or not all of the Full Members shall have actually been present in person or by proxy."

Some of the officials from group of seven members, outside the Big Three, ESPNCricinfo spoke to admitted that they were concerned by development. "We have been talking between ourselves. Everyone is disturbed because the draft proposal will have greater repercussions on futures of members' cricket," a senior board official from the seven-member group of nations said. His greatest fear was the Australia-England-India triad were getting the majority of the funds while the G-7 were left with nothing much. "You need money to run the sport. They have proposed to make FTP optional. For such decisions you have to have everybody along. They are acting like UN Security Council where the Big Three have veto powers," the official said.

The "position paper", as the 21-page document was titled, was revealed to the Full Members for the first time during an additional ICC Board meeting to discuss "financial matters" called suddenly on January 9 in Dubai. When the proposal was presented, it not only took the representatives of the rest of the seven Full Members by surprise but also caught unawares the top brass of the ICC, comprising of president Alan Isaac, Mustafa Kamal (vice-president) and Dave Richardson (chief executive).

The meeting will be significant because of the immediacy and urgency spelt out in the "position paper" with respect to the formation of the ICC Business Co (IBC) - a new commercial arm of the ICC which will be set up to replace the existing IDI (ICC Development International). The proposal states that the IBC is to be "established immediately" in order to take overall charge of the next cycle of ICC media and sponsorship rights that cover 2015-2023, starting with the task of issuing media rights tenders. The chairman of the ICC's F&CA committee will also be the chairman of the IBC, appointed through nomination by either the BCCI, Cricket Australia or the ECB.