Sourav Ganguly appointed Chairman of ICC Men's Cricket Committee

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the Chairman of ICC Men's Cricket Committee. He will be succeeding Anil Kumble, who stepped down from the post after having served a maximum of three, 3-year terms.

ICC Chairman Greg Barclay welcomed Ganguly's appointment saying, "I am delighted to welcome Sourav to the position of Chair of the ICC Men's Cricket Committee. His experience as one of the world's best players and latterly as an administrator will help us shape our cricketing decisions moving forward."

The ICC Chairman also thanked Anil Kumble for his outstanding leadership over the last nine years that has included improving the international game through more regular and consistent application of DRS and a robust process for addressing suspect bowling actions.

ICC appoints working group to review Afghanistan cricket 

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has also appointed a Working Group to review cricket in Afghanistan and the status of the Afghanistan Cricket Board amid the Taliban's takeover of the nation. The working group will have to report back to the Board over the coming months.

Working Group Composition

Working Group Chairman-Imran Khwaja

Working Group members- Ross McCollum, Lawson Naidoo and Ramiz Raja.

ICC Chair Greg Barclay said in an official statement that the ICC Board is committed to continuing to support Afghanistan Cricket to develop both men's and women's cricket moving forward. He said, "we believe the most effective way for this to happen will be to support our Member in its efforts to achieve this through its relationship with the new government."

He said cricket is fortunate to be in the position to influence a positive change in Afghanistan with the national men's team a source of great pride and unity in a country with a young population that has experienced more upheaval and change than most.

He affirmed that we should protect that status and continue to try to influence change through the Afghanistan Cricket Board but will continue to closely monitor the situation and take any decisions accordingly.

Other Key Decisions

The ICC Board has approved the continuation of the ICC World Test Championship over a two-year period with the final scheduled between the top two teams at the conclusion. The championship will comprise nine teams like it did in its first edition. 

The ICC Board also accepted a recommendation from the Chief Executives' Committee that the primary avenue for qualification for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup be based on rankings at a pre-determined cutoff date with the 10 highest-ranked teams on the Men's ODI Rankings qualifying automatically and remaining 4 teams determined through a global qualifier. 

The ICC Board also approved that first-class and list A classification will be applied to women's cricket to align with the men's game. The ICC Women's Committee will now be known as the ICC Women's Cricket Committee. The committee will assume all decision-making responsibility for women's cricket and will report directly to the CEC. West Indies Cricket CEO Johnny Grave has been appointed to the ICC Women's Cricket Committee.