Sri Lanka Will Vote For Dalmiya For ICC Chairman (10 Apr 1996)

10 April 1996

Sri Lanka will vote for Dalmiya for ICC Chairman

By SA`ADI THAWFEEQ

Sri Lanka are likely to toe the line with India`s Jagmohan Dalmiya who will be contesting for the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairmanship with Krish Mackerdhuj of South Africa.

The final day to submit nominations for the ICC chairmanship is today and Dalmiya, who is the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Mackerdhuj, the president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) are the two front-runners to head cricket`s international controlling body.

"At the moment we are non-committal because decisions of this nature according to the Sports Law, has to be approved by the Minister of Sports,`` said the new president of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board Upali Dharmadasa on his return from Singapore.

It is very likely that Sri Lanka will support its Asian neighbour along with whom they hosted cricket`s sixth edition of the World Cup (along with Pakistan) which ended last month.

While in Singapore where he was a guest of the Singapore CA for the Singer Cup final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Dharmadasa was met by Dalmiya, who has put himself forward as a candidate following the successful completion of the Wills World Cup of which he was the chairman of the organising committee PILCOM (Pakistan, India, Lanka Committee).

When Australia and West Indies refused to play their World Cup match in Colombo, both India and Pakistan stood firm with Sri Lanka by refusing to change the venue, and as a mark of solidarity amongst the three nations a one-day match between Wills XI (comprising cricketers from India and Pakistan) and Sri Lanka was played in Colombo.

One must not also forget the part played by the managing director of the UCBSA Dr. Ali Bacher in taking a firm stance against Australia when they refused to play in Sri Lanka.

Whoever comes through will need two-thirds majority of the nine ICC full member countries, who have two votes each. The 22 associate-member countries have one vote each.

The new chairman of ICC will be elected at the annual ICC meeting scheduled from July 18-20 at Lord`s. The incumbent chairman will succeed the present chairman Sir Clyde Walcott when his term ends in 1997.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)