Too much internal politics: Jay Shah's unanimous election as ICC Chairman explained by Johnny Grave

The CEO of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Johnny Grave, has opened up on the unanimous voting for Jay Shah for the post of International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman. Shah received unanimous votes in his favour for the post and no further elections were required as he was the only man standing for the role.

Jay Shah's tenure as ICC Chairman will begin from December 1 and his tenure will be of three years. Before becoming the ICC Chairman, he served as BCCI secretary and was credited for making some historic changes in Indian cricket including the development of women's cricket.

Shah's tenure as BCCI secretary was mainly highlighted by his vision to improve the domestic cricket structure in the country and make the players prioritize domestic cricket over the lucrative IPL deals.

Also read: Rohit Sharma to leave Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2025? Fresh report reveals truth

Johnny Grave opens up about how Jay Shah was unanimously voted for the post of ICC Chairman

During a conversation with The Indian Express, Johnny Grave spoke about Shah's tenure as BCCI secretary in which India hosted some big events like ICC ODI World Cup 2023 successfully.

Shah was also credited with bringing some high returns through broadcast deals for the Indian Premier League (IPL). IPL's media rights for the period 2023-27 were valued at INR 48,390 crore.

“The ICC board doesn’t want to waste too much time on internal politics. If you look at Jay’s leadership at the BCCI, it has been wonderful. He has hosted the Women’s Premier League, successfully oversaw the 50-over World Cup in India and has signed huge broadcast deals with IPL and for BCCI,” Johnny Grave was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Jay Shah's role in the development of women's cricket in India

Shah played a key role in the development of women's cricket in India. The rise of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is a prime example of that. Under Shah's leadership, BCCI touched some new heights in terms of securing some high broadcasting deals in bilateral series as well.

Overall, Jay Shah's tenure with the BCCI was an impressive one and the ICC hopes that he can revive the World Cricket Board in the same aspect as well. Grave suggested that the ICC expects Shah to bring in some crucial revenue to the board which will help in the development of the game.

One of the prime responsibilities for Jay Shah will be the revival of Test cricket. With the advent of T20 cricket and franchise leagues, the value of Test cricket among the member nations has gone down.

Revival of Test cricket

Currently, only a few countries can afford to play a Test series of more than two matches and end up being in a profit. Those countries are mainly the Big Three India, England, and Australia.

After his appointment as ICC Chairman, Jay Shah also spoke about prioritizing Test cricket and preserving the format.

The ICC needs to take a big step in order to revive the original format of cricket, especially in small cricket-playing countries. As a BCCI secretary, Jay Shah introduced the 'Test Cricket Incentive Scheme' after India's win in Dharamsala over England earlier this year. The scheme was initiated to offer additional income to the players for participating in the red ball format.