Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly join World Cricket Connects Advisory Board
Published - 24 Jan 2025, 10:28 AM | Updated - 24 Jan 2025, 10:29 AM
ICC chairman Jay Shah and former batter Sourav Ganguly have been inducted into the newly instituted World Cricket Connects Advisory Board. The Marylebone Cricket Club's (MCC) world cricket committee will be replaced by the advisory board, with a focus on how to navigate cricket's evolving landscape.
Jay Shah was absent from the first World Cricket Connects forum held at Lord's last year, which brought together over 100 key figures in the cricket world to discuss the state of the game. However, he is now one of the 13 founding members of the newly established World Cricket Connects advisory board.
Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly Join World Cricket Connects Advisory Board
The Marylebone Cricket Club has confirmed that World Cricket Connects will take place again in 2025. Following the success of the inaugural event in 2024, this year’s forum will be held before the ICC World Test Championship Final between South Africa and Australia.
"The forum, which proved hugely popular in bringing together influential people from across all aspects of cricket in its inaugural year in 2024, will be held ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final between South Africa and Australia," MCC wrote in a media release.
On Thursday, the MCC confirmed that the second World Cricket Connects forum will take place on June 7 and 8, just ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final. Australia and South Africa will face each other in the WTC 2025 final, which is scheduled from June 11 to 15 at Lord's Cricket Ground.
Role of the World Cricket Connects Advisory Board
The World Cricket Connects Advisory Board aims to shape and guide the future of the sport by facilitating discussions on strategic issues that impact cricket’s growth and success.
"As the Club evolves the World Cricket Connects concept, the aim is for it to become the leading symposium in the game, facilitating the debate of strategic issues in an independent forum and establishing a consensus on paths to ensure cricket's future success," MCC shared details of the board's objective in a media release.
"To achieve this objective, MCC has revealed that a new World Cricket Connects Advisory Board (Connects Board) has been formed. This independent group will shape the annual World Cricket Connects agenda, help facilitate the event's discussions and in turn maximise the opportunity for genuine impact on the health of the game."
MCC Announces Members Who Have Accepted Invitations to Join the Board:
Kumar Sangakkara (Chair – Former Sri Lanka captain and former President of MCC), Anurag Dahiya (Chief Commercial Officer at ICC), Chris Dehring (CEO at West Indies Cricket), Sourav Ganguly (Former India captain and former President of BCCI), Sanjog Gupta (CEO- Sports, JioStar), Mel Jones (Former Australia international and current broadcaster), Heather Knight (England captain), Trudy Lindblade (CEO at Cricket Scotland), Heath Mills (Executive Chair at World Cricketers’ Association), Imtiaz Patel (Former Chair of SuperSport, MultiChoice and DStv), Jay Shah (Chair of ICC), Graeme Smith (Former South Africa captain and League Commissioner at SA20), Andrew Strauss (Former England captain and former Director of Cricket at ECB).
