Jay Shah to leave BCCI for ICC? Big decisions to be made in International Cricket Council's Annual Conference

The cricketing world is early waiting for the upcoming four-day ICC Annual Conference in Colombo, scheduled to start on Friday (July 19). The upcoming meeting could make things very clear regarding the exact timing of BCCI Secretary Jay Shah becoming the next ICC chairman.

As per media reports, Jay Shah becoming the ICC head is only a matter of time now. At present, New Zealand's Greg Barclay is the chairman of the governing body of the game. The ICC members will be discussing the potential timing of the appointment in the upcoming meeting.

Jay Shah still has a year left as the BCCI secretary. His tenure will end in 2025 before the mandatory cooling-off period begins. On the other hand, Barclay's two-year term will end this year. He was first elected as the ICC chairman in 2020 before being re-elected in 2022.

With Jay Shah's tenure ending next year and Barclay's tenure ending this year, there is still no clarity over the timing of the appointment. Reports also state that Barclay's current tenure could be extended to three years.

In that case, Jay Shah will be taking over from him in 2025 when he will be in a cooling-off period as a BCCI administrator. A report in PTI claims that Shah could serve as the ICC chairman for 3 years before returning to the BCCI as the president.

"It is not about how but when, as he still has one year left as BCCI secretary before his cooling off period in Indian board starts in 2025 as per constitution. However, if he has to take over in 2025, then Barclay can't complete his third term of two years from December 2024 to December 2026," an ICC source told PTI.

"There is a school of thought that what if ICC's chairmanship term changes from three terms of two years each to two terms of three years, so the cumulative term can remain six years," added the source.

Other agendas of the ICC meeting:

Apart from the discussion on Jay Shah's appointment as the ICC chief, the board members will also be discussing several other agendas. One of the main topics of discussion would be the losses incurred by the ICC during the T20 World Cup. As per reports, the ICC has suffered a staggering loss of USD 20 million for hosting T20 World Cup games in the United States of America.

ICC's new external auditor appointment is also on the agenda along with discussions on ICC memberships, reports from associate member's meeting,s and ICC development Awards presentation, as per PTI. The ICC could also discuss about India not traveling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy next year.