Greg Barclay elected as ICC chairman

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief Greg Barclay has been newly-elected as International Cricket Council's independent Chairman. The voting procedure was conducted during the ICC's annual general quarterly meeting last week. It included a total of 16 board directors. Out of the total tally, 12 were from the full Test-playing nations.

It is believed that the four Test-playing nations - India, England, New Zealand and Australia - cast their vote for Barclay. The 59-year-old won the voting process by a margin of 11-5, beating his counterpart Imran Khwaja. 

"It is an honour to be elected as the Chair of the ICC and I would like to thank my fellow ICC Directors for their support. I hope we can come together to lead the sport and emerge from the global pandemic in a strong position and poised for growth," Barclay said. 

The newly elected chairman also added that the apex cricket body will put their best foot forward to enhance the relationship between two Asian cricket boards - India and Pakistan. 

"I would love nothing more than for India and Pakistan to be able to continue cricketing relations as they were previously. I am also enough of a realist to understand that there are geo-political issues at play here. I think all we can do at the ICC is to continue to help and support in any way that we can to bring about outcomes that would see India and Pakistan in a position where they can play cricket regularly against each other and in their home territories. Beyond that, I do not think I have the mandate or ability to influence the outcomes more than that. That is really being done at a level way beyond where we would be operating," - he added.

Greg Barclay , an Auckland lawyer, is quite familiar with this role. In 2015, the Kiwi served as a director of the Men's 50-over World Cup. He has also been a board member and chairman of Northern Districts Cricket Association. 

[PTI Input]