New International Cricket Council chair, New Zealand's Greg Barclay, says the organisation must deliver its pinnacle events over the next three years or there will be serious financial consequences for the sport.
ICC chair Greg Barclay Photo: Photosport
Barclay, who served as New Zealand Cricket's representative on the International Cricket Council (ICC) board for the past six years, has been confirmed as successor to interim chairman Imran Khwaja, who temporarily replaced India's Shashank Manohar after his second two-year term ended in July.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the ICC to reschedule three of its world tournaments, and Barclay said the organisation was contracted to deliver them within the current broadcasting agreement.
"We have got to deliver the world events that are to come and those that are postponed," Barclay told Reuters of the agreements that expire in mid-2023.
"Not just for the cricketing outcomes but there are commercial concerns as well."
The men's 2020 Twenty20 World Cup in Australia and 2021 women's World Cup in New Zealand have been moved to 2022, while the men's 2023 World Cup in India has been pushed back to later that year.
"If we fail to deliver all of those events then we will be penalised by the broadcasters and we won't receive the last of the ongoing payments," Barclay said.
"That, in turn, is going to affect the ICC's ability to invest in its own programmes and enable it to make distributions to members. Unfortunately a lot of the ICC members are heavily reliant on those disbursements."
"For me it's just moving forward now, it's about what happens next, and getting on and facing some of those challenges'' - Greg Barclay
Commercial lawyer Barclay said that while the election process had been "drawn out" he was keen to get to work.
One of his tasks is to ensure that women's cricket continues to make progress.
"We have an obligation that it's a game for everyone," he said. "We have got to continue to move towards parity."
He was also eager to develop the game in non-traditional markets and felt the United States was an area they could tap into, especially with the work already done in recent years.
"We have to look at regions where there is good potential for growth," he said. "The U.S. appears to be the place to go.
"It has a massive advantage in that its traditional audiences from sub-continental Asia have massive diasporas in North America and there are large audiences there for cricket.
"We should continue with that."
- Reuters / RNZ