ICC appoints Geoff Allardice full-time CEO
He had served as the acting CEO for the last eight months, following the ICC's issues with Manu Sawhney
ESPNcricinfo staff
21-Nov-2021
Geoff Allardice served as the acting CEO of ICC following Manu Sawhney's exit • IDI/Getty Images
Geoff Allardice has been named the full-time CEO of the ICC after serving in the role on an interim basis for more than eight months. Allardice had taken over the role from Manu Sawhney in March, when the latter was suspended based on the findings of a cultural review.
Allardice, a former first-class cricketer from Australia who has a degree in chemical engineering, earlier served as ICC general manager (cricket) for eight years. He did not play international cricket but was a prolific, dogged batter for Melbourne University in club cricket and played 18 matches for Victoria in the early 1990s. Former CA CEO James Sutherland was Allardice's long-time Melbourne University team-mate. Eventually, Sutherland brought Allardice into the CA set-up as umpires' manager in the early 2000s. From there, he went up the ladder to become CA's cricket operations general manager, before moving on to the ICC in July 2012.
"My continued focus will be on doing the right thing for our sport and working closely with Members to deliver long-term success and sustainability," Allardice said. "I would also like to thank the ICC staff for their commitment and support over the last eight months and I'm looking forward to continuing to serve cricket with such a talented team."
Sawhney was first asked to go on leave by the ICC in March following issues that emerged over his management style after a cultural review, which was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He was then officially let go from his role in July, following a decision taken by the ICC board.
ICC chairman Greg Barclay said: "I am delighted that Geoff has agreed to take the role of ICC CEO on a permanent basis. He has shown tremendous leadership during an extremely challenging period culminating in the successful delivery of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021.
"Geoff has unrivaled knowledge of the global cricket landscape and its stakeholders and has consistently demonstrated he is the right person to work in partnership with our Members to shape the sport for the next decade as we embark on delivering a new strategy and our next commercial rights cycle."