ICC rules could block Cricket Kenya recognition

Cricket Kenya's plans to of take over the running of Kenyan cricket could have to wait more than a year - at least, in the eyes of the ICC.

A letter from Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, to Ochilo Ayacko, the minister of sport who is behind the establishment of Cricket Kenya, warned that ICC procedures mean that no switch of recognition could happen before the full board meeting in June 2006. Under ICC rules, any body requiring recognition would need to submit its application by the January before the meeting. That means that CK cannot make the deadline to be considered at this June's meeting.

That letter, leaked to the Nation newspaper, gave a boost to the beleaguered KCA. Only if the KCA ceased to exist or its executive accepted the seemingly inevitable and stepped down en masse, would the ICC have to recognise CK immediately. But if the KCA refuses go quietly, then the ICC's rules state that it should be given 12 months to get its house in order.

The letter was welcomed by Sharad Ghai, the KCA's besieged chairman, who said: "If they [CK] get the go-ahead in June, they will have to apply for membership before December 31 and wait for application to be considered during the next annual conference next year, then wait for another year for membership to be approved."