Imran Khawaja takes over as deputy chairman

The ICC has appointed Imran Khawaja, a veteran administrator from Singapore, as its deputy chairman. The newly created position is part of the new constitution that was unanimously adopted by the ICC on Thursday. Khawaja will deputise in ICC meetings in case the chairman Shashank Manohar is absent.

Khawaja, who is a senior lawyer, has been an invisible force at the ICC Board for several years. Although his main role has been as the chairman of Associates counties, Khawaja has been part of influential committees with the ICC seeking his counsel. The most recent example of Khawaja's influence came when he convinced Manohar to take back his resignation and finish his two-year tenure.

Khawaja was part of the five-man ICC working group lead by Manohar that had drafted the new constitution last year. With Manohar's term coming to an end next June, Khawaja will be one of the frontrunners for the job.

"It is a great honour to be elected Deputy Chairman especially whilst wearing the hat of an Associate," Khawaja said in a media release. "I am also privileged to be part of the working group to have authored and reinvented the ICC constitution to make it one of the most inclusive, transparent and merit based sports governing bodies in the world.I have no doubts that a new era is dawning on our great game which will see not only a more vibrant membership but also a competition structure that sees cricket played at the highest level."