Galle: Australian Geoff Allardice resigned as chief executive of the International Cricket Council after being told he would have to re-apply for his job under a process initiated by the governing body’s new chair Jay Shah.
Allardice, who has been CEO of the ICC since 2021, submitted his resignation after deciding he did not wish to re-apply.
Former ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice.Credit: Getty Images
Three senior cricket sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions are confidential, confirmed that Allardice was given the ultimatum on Friday, January 24.
This took place at the end of the same day that Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and England board chair Richard Thompson were in Dubai for meetings with Shah and presentations from ICC management.
Baird was in Dubai for briefings as part of his role as the new chair of the ICC’s financial and commercial affairs committee. Thompson was on his way back to the UK after visiting England’s white ball tour of India. Shah, meanwhile, was returning to India after a trip to Europe. Allardice’s future was not on the agenda for any of the meetings.
Shah had earlier conveyed to the ICC board of directors his intention to run a process to find a new CEO. Allardice and Baird declined to comment when contacted by this masthead.
New ICC chairman Jay Shah.Credit: AP
“It has been a privilege to serve as the chief executive officer of the International Cricket Council and I am incredibly proud of the results we have achieved, from enhancing the global reach of cricket to the commercial foundation put in place for ICC members,” Allardice said when announcing his resignation.
“I’d like to thank the ICC chair, the board of directors and entire cricket community for their support and collaboration over the past 13 years.
“I believe this is the right time for me to step down and pursue new challenges. I am confident that cricket has exciting times ahead, and I wish the ICC and the global cricket community every success in the future.”
It is unclear for how long Allardice, who has a six-month notice period as CEO, will be required to carry on in his role until the ICC board chooses a successor.
“On behalf of the ICC board, I want to sincerely thank Geoff for his leadership and commitment during his tenure as chief executive,” Shah said of Allardice. “His efforts have played a key role in advancing cricket globally. We are truly grateful for his service and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”
Before joining the ICC in cricket management roles from 2012, Allardice served as cricket operations manager for Cricket Australia. In his time at the ICC he was involved in numerous significant developments, including India’s acceptance of universal implementation of the decision review system after several years of opposition.
He was also primarily responsible for knitting together the future tours program in exhaustive talks with member countries after the boards of India, England and Australia removed the ICC’s central control of the international calendar in 2014.
Shah, Thompson and Baird also met in Dubai that day for the purpose of discussing the future of Test cricket, including the possible introduction of a two division system after the end of the current future tours program in 2027.
While preparatory work on the concept will continue ahead of the April round of ICC meetings, one scenario is for two divisions of six teams each.
That balance would mean that teams in division one play roughly the same amount of series over two years as they do currently in the world Test championship. But the addition of a second division with promotion and relegation would enable broadcasters to have a play-off final in addition to the current Test championship final, next to be played at Lord’s in June between Australia and South Africa.
Reports about a “reset” of the Test championship for the next cycle beginning later in June, meanwhile, principally concern England’s desire to change the over rate regulations that Ben Stokes’ team believe cost them a chance to qualify for the final.
England lost 22 points due to slow over rate penalties, without which they would have finished on 136 points as opposed to 114. However, that would still have meant their points percentage of around 51 was inferior to South Africa (69.44) and Australia (65.74), the two teams that qualified for the final.
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