ICC appoints Geoff Allardice as a full-time CEO, replacing Manu Sawhney
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed Geoff Allardice as a full-time CEO, replacing Manu Sawhney, who was suspended in March earlier this year based on the findings of the cultural review. Allardice has been promoted after serving the ICC for eight months on an interim basis.
Allardice has played first-class cricket for Victoria in Australia alongside the likes of Damien Fleming and Ian Harvey between 1991 to 1994. Apart from that, he also played at the University level with former Cricket Australia administrator James Sutherland. The 54-year-old has previously served as a general manager of the organisation for eight years. After the promotion, the former first-class cricketer has said that he will continuously work on doing the right thing for the sport.
"My continued focus will be on doing the right thing for our sport and working closely with Members to deliver long-term success and sustainability. I would also like to thank the ICC staff for their commitment and support over the last eight months and I'm looking forward to continuing to serve cricket with such a talented team," Allardice said.
The ICC chairperson Greg Barclay has said that he is delighted that Goeff has accepted the offer to serve as the CEO on a permanent basis.
"I am delighted that Geoff has agreed to take the role of ICC CEO on a permanent basis. He has shown tremendous leadership during an extremely challenging period culminating in the successful delivery of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021.
"Geoff has unrivaled knowledge of the global cricket landscape and its stakeholders and has consistently demonstrated he is the right person to work in partnership with our Members to shape the sport for the next decade as we embark on delivering a new strategy and our next commercial rights cycle."
Sawhney was sent on leave by the ICC in March this year following issues that emerged over his management style after a cultural review, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He was asked to leave the post in July, following a decision taken by the ICC Board.