Greg Barclay elected as Independent ICC Chair

Greg Barclay has been elected as the new Independent Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and he succeeds Shashank Manohar who stepped down earlier this year.

Barclay, an Auckland-based commercial lawyer, has been a director of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) since 2012 and is currently NZC’s representative on the board of the International Cricket Council. He will step down from his position at NZC to lead the ICC in an independent capacity.

He was a director of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2015 and is a former board member and chairman of the Northern Districts Cricket Association. Greg is also an experienced company director holding board positions with various New Zealand and Australian companies.

Greg Barclay delighted to be on board

Commenting on his appointment Greg Barclay said: “It is an honour to be elected as the Chair of the International Cricket Council 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.

“I look forward to working in partnership with our Members to strengthen the game in our core markets as well as grow it beyond that ensuring more of the world can enjoy cricket. I take my position as a custodian of the game very seriously and am committed to working on behalf of all 104 ICC Members to create a sustainable future for our sport.

“I’d like to thank Imran Khwaja for his leadership as acting ICC Chair during a difficult period for the game and I look forward to continuing a close working relationship with him in the future.”

Barclay had managed to garner 10 votes compared to Khwaja’s six in the opening round. However, as per the ICC stipulations, he needed 11 votes- two-thirds majority among the 16 members. The crucial vote came from Cricket South Africa and Barclay emerged as the champions.

He replaced Khwaja, who had been the interim chairman after Manohar resigned from his position back in July. Barclay has a significant amount of experience in administrative roles and it will be interesting to see his approach, especially when the game has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.