ICC confirms make-up of revised ICC Cricket Committee

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Holding, the ex-West Indies fast bowler, are among the people who will form part of the ICC's newly constituted cricket committee.

Also included are Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel, chief ICC match referee and former Sri Lanka captain Ranjan Madugalle and Craig Wright, the former Scotland captain.

The new structure is designed to be representative of all interests in the modern game and replaces the previous set-up which was made up of the nominated representatives from each of the Full Members (Boards and players) and leading Associates.

The new 13-member committee, which will meet for the first time on 30 and 31 May in Dubai, will be chaired by ex-India captain Sunil Gavaskar, an ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1983.

It will also feature recently appointed Western Australia coach Tom Moody, another player to enjoy ICC Cricket World Cup success - with Australia in 1987 (as a squad member) and 1999 - and someone who coached Sri Lanka to the ICC Cricket World Cup final earlier this year.

The ICC Executive Board, which previously approved the recommendation of the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) to amend the structure of the Cricket Committee, approved the personnel set to sit on it at its meeting in Cape Town in March.

The remit of the ICC Cricket Committee is to discuss and consult on any cricket-playing matters and to formulate recommendations to the CEC which relate to cricket-playing matters.

The Committee (and the interests from which its members are drawn) will be made up of the following people:

Chairman - Sunil Gavaskar (former India captain and opening batsman and ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1983)

Past players (2) - Ian Bishop (former West Indies fast bowler) and Mark Taylor (ex-Australia captain)

Representatives of current players (2) - Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka captain; Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman, was the original nominee for this position but he is unavailable due to commitments playing county cricket in the UK) and Tim May (ex-Australia off-spinner, ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1987 and now Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations)

Full Member team coach representative (1) - Tom Moody (former Sri Lanka coach)

Member Board representative (1) - Duleep Mendis (former Sri Lanka captain and now SLC Chief Executive)

Umpires' representative (1) - Simon Taufel (member of the Emirates Elite Panel and named Umpire of the Year three times in a row at the ICC Awards)

Referees' representative (1) - Ranjan Madugalle (ICC chief match referee and former Sri Lanka captain)

Marylebone Cricket Club representative (1) - Keith Bradshaw (took over as the MCC's Secretary and Chief Executive in October 2006 in succession to Roger Knight; former first-class cricketer for Tasmania in Australia. MCC is the custodian of the Laws of Cricket)

Statistician (1) - David Kendix (a statistician/scorer and the man responsible for the creation and development of the LG ICC Test and ODI Championships and nominated by the ICC to sit on the committee)

Media (1) - Michael Holding (former West Indies fast bowler and now part of the commentary team for Sky Sports in the UK)

Associate representative (1) - Craig Wright (former Scotland captain)

Commenting on the change to the ICC Cricket Committee, ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said: "It is excellent news that both the new structure and the make-up of the committee have been approved.

"The game of cricket now has at its disposal a group of outstanding cricket brains covering all aspects of the game and with their collective input we will be able to ensure that, moving forward, a strong sport is able to grow even stronger."

Simon Taufel said: "The Emirates Elite Panel of umpires is very pleased to have representation on the ICC Cricket Committee and be able to have input into how the game is structured at the highest level.

"There is an enormous amount of cricket experience on the Elite Panel of umpires and we hope to be able to contribute in a positive way to improving the game for all participants and spectators."

Michael Holding, who has already sat on an ICC panel of experts that examined the issue of illegal bowling actions, said: "If the ICC believes I can make a contribution to the committee then I am delighted to take part as I am always happy to be involved in anything that is for the betterment of the game."

Details of the ICC Cricket Committee's agenda and of the meeting itself will be announced in due course.