WC 2015 AUS vs NZ: ICC President 'ignored' at World Cup presentation ceremony
Mumbai: It was the ICC chairman N Srinivasan and not the ICC president AHM Mustafa Kamal who handed over the glitterous World Cup trophy to the victorious Australians.
Apparently, this has surprised quite a few former ICC presidents, who, in the past, had got the opportunity to handover the trophy to the winning team. "It (not handing over the trophy by an ICC president) was surprising but that's how it goes," Malcolm Gray, former ICC president said over the telephone from Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
"It has always been a practice and so I handed it to Ricky Ponting in South Africa in 2003," he added.
"It is surprising and interesting," Ehsan Mani, the former ICC chief said from Lahore.
Speaking exclusively, David Morgan, another former ICC president said, "The trophy has always being handed over by the ICC president. I am not aware and can't imagine what arrangements were made today. Perhaps, Srinivasan, being a senior man may have opted to do so. During our time, there was no Chairman post, and thus only the president was empowered to do so."
Morgan was in Australia for the initial part of the World Cup matches and was present at the India-Pakistan league match in Adelaide. "An independent governance review of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is being trialled now and that's how the chairman laid his hands on trophy," he further added.
Interestingly, the report which was prepared by Lord Woolf in 2012 for the ICC is clear about the role of the ICC president. "The role of the ICC President should be an Ambassadorial role, enhancing relationships with ICC stakeholders and other sporting bodies and acting as a figurehead for the ICC at worldwide functions," it has stated in a 65-page report.
Mustafa Kamal didn't respond to the calls made in Australia. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Nazmul Hassan Pappn was aware about the "new development". "I came to know last night that the ICC chairman is handing over the trophy to the winning team. I didn't attend yesterday's meeting where this decision was taken," he said from the ground.
Read: ‘The match seemed to be fixed, I may resign’
Possibly, Kamal's recent comments on ICC umpires didn't go well with the ICC and it may have robbed away his opportunity. At least he could have been asked to remain present at the dias.
