ICC Chief Executive looks back on cricketing year

Cricket is a wonderful game and we are lucky at the moment to have a truly great generation of active players who I am sure will go down in history as legends of the game - Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralidaran, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar to name a few.

While the Johnnie Walker Super Series last October may not have lived up to anticipation, it was a real honour and privilege to see so many great players on the cricketing field at the same tome.

One of the reasons we created the ICC Awards was to recognise the fact cricket does have many fantastic role models, and as well as rewarding excellence on the field of play, the Awards celebrate those players and teams who play the game in accordance with The Spirit of Cricket.

There have been many memorable matches and some outstanding individual achievements in world cricket. Like all cricket fans, I was gripped by the Ashes series which was a fantastic advert for the sport and hopefully took the game to new audiences. Not only were the Test matches blessed with exciting finishes, but the Spirit of Cricket was shown throughout the series, with the image of Andrew Flintoff commiserating with Brett Lee being one of the defining images in the whole of world sport last year.

But there have been so many other exciting matches as well. Games that come to mind include India's win against the West Indies in the final test match in the Caribbean to clinch the series, as well as Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz succeeding, where they had failed months earlier at Edgbaston, in guiding Australia to a 2 wicket victory in their 3rd Test Match against South Africa.

What has also been exciting is that the matches between our Full Members are so competitively balanced, which means the results are always hard to predict. While Pakistan won their test series against India, always a special event for any cricket fan, the Indians then comprehensively defeated their rivals in the ODI series.

In terms of the development of some of our smaller nations, the fact Bangladesh came so close to defeating Australia in a Test Match is also encouraging for the long term success of the sport.

There can have been few greater matches in ODI history than South Africa's outstanding achievement in scoring 438 batting second against Australia to win the game. It was a really special occasion for world cricket.

It has been an exciting time for the ICC, with some important strategic decisions made during the course of the year as well as a relocation of office from London to Dubai.

I believe the changes we have made over the past few years means that we are more effective, transparent, accountable and approachable than at any other time I have been Chief Executive.

The launch of the strategic plan, 2006-10, provides us with a direction that the whole of sport can work towards and the new six-year Future Tours Program, ensures that there is regular cricket for all of our members.

The great strides made by our Development program and the integration of the International Women's Cricket Council into the ICC, also means that we have an important role in ensuring the development of the sport as a whole.

Going back to our strategic plan, our vision is as a leading global sport, cricket will captivate and inspire people of every age, gender, background and ability while building bridges between continents, countries and communities.

The coming 12 months presents us a tremendous opportunity to do this, through events like the ICC Champions Trophy, the ICC Cricket World Cup which begins in the Spring, the launch of the World Cricket League and our ongoing partnerships with UNAIDS in addressing HIV and AIDS. While we will face challenges along the way, world cricket is very strong at the moment and our popularity continues to grow, as I saw recently on a trip to see how the game is developing in China.

We are also in the process of negotiating deals in relation to our next commercial cycle and we will use the revenues generated by this income for the good of the game.

Personally, I will also try and ensure that players and officials adhere to the Spirit of Cricket which in turn will hopefully encourage more people across the world to play the game and spectate at cricket matches.