Johannesburg – The agreement reached by the International Cricket Council (ICC) board in Singapore is a work in progress, Cricket SA (CSA) president Chris Nenzani said on Saturday.
“It will, in the long-term, guarantee the sustainability of the game and a democratic system of leadership,” he said in a statement.
The ICC board Saturday approved wide-ranging structural and governance reforms, despite complaints that they placed too much power in the hands of India, England and Australia.
The proposals were passed after gaining the support of eight of the ICC's 10 full members, including South Africa, with Sri Lanka and Pakistan the only two countries abstaining.
“Nothing in life is perfect. All countries, including the so-called big three, have had to rethink and make concessions and the final terms that were approved today include significant changes from the original proposals presented in January,” Nenzani said, justifying his decision to vote in favour of the changes.
The resolutions included the setting up a five-man executive council with seats reserved for India, England and Australia, the sport's leading financial powers.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) president N Srinivasan would chair the ICC board from July this year.
“It was key that we remain engaged and an absolute imperative that we should preserve the financial stability of the game over the next eight-year cycle, from 2015 to 2023,” Nenzani said.
“It is equally important to understand it is only a transitional arrangement and from 2016 there would be fully democratic elections for all the governing positions in the ICC, including the chairpersons of the Board and the other committees.
“There will be no restrictions in this regard and this must be seen as the key component in our determination to stay true to the best principles of democracy and good corporate governance.”
After initially being opposed to the reforms, CSA last weekend issued a statement in which Nenzani said he was confident an agreement could be reached.
The about-turn led to media speculation CSA had struck a deal with the BCCI which would see, among other things, CSA's chief executive Haroon Lorgat resuming his full duties as South Africa's top cricket administrator after he fell out of favour with the BCCI last year.
Lorgat was forced to take a back seat during India's abridged tour of South Africa in December 2013 and was also prohibited from attending ICC meetings or having any direct dealings with the BCCI.
CSA rejected the reports and said it would not compromise its key principles and integrity.
The ICC's current funding model distributes surplus revenues equally among full members and, in smaller proportions, to its associate and affiliate members.
The new model rewards the biggest contributors towards the ICC's revenues and would increase the BCCI's share of the pot from 4.2 percent to 21 percent as they generate more than 70 percent of the money.
“There is a lot of work still to be done in terms of deliberations between the various full members, as far as their international tour programmes are concerned, and this procedure also has the support of the full member countries,” Nenzani said.
“We are currently at an advanced stage of discussion with all the full members to secure our future tours through to 2023 and we will take comfort in the legally binding Future Tours Program agreements that will be in place.
“All these decisions and those still to come will help cricket to move forward with a unified sense of purpose and ensure the future of our great game.” – Sapa