MUSCAT : Oman’s headline-making cricket strides could take a giant leap when it becomes part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) all-important decision-making team if Pankaj Khimji, Oman Cricket’s Board Member, is elected to ICC Board of Directors following a keenly-contested election that starts on Monday, December 14 and closes on Friday, December 18. 

ICC Board comprises 15 Directors, 12 nominated members from Test playing countries and three elected members from the 92 Associate nations. Pankaj’s nomination to contest the ICC Board election is a result of his untiring efforts to promote the cause of Associate nations in the power corridors of international cricket where he has been successful in making his presence felt over the last five years. Pankaj, a life Member of London-based Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the guardian of the laws of the game, has also been representing Oman at ICC and ACC in various capacities. 

The election will see voting Associate members picking three directors from a total of seven candidates through a weighted secret ballot conducted electronically. Apart from Khimji, six others in the fray are Imran Khwaja (current director), Tony Brian (Scotland/current director), Neil Speight (Bermuda Cricket Board), Sushil Kumar Nadkarni (USA Cricket Board), Mahinda Vallipuram (Malaysia Cricket Association/current director), Mark Stafford (Vanuatu Cricket Association) and Prof Adam Ukwenya (Nigeria Cricket Association). 

Each Associate voting member has three votes which it must cast for three different candidates in order of preference so that the weighted voting system could be used in the event of a tied vote. 

This is the first time that a representative from Oman is contesting ICC Board election and, if elected, will go down in the country’s history as yet another international accolade brought home by the game of cricket. 

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