Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardena in ICC Cricket Committee

Dubai: Former India captain Rahul Dravid and ex-Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene on Friday were appointed to International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricket Committee.

Anil Kumble, who is the chairman of the committee, also got three-year extension. The former Indian leg-spinner was appointed as the Chair in 2012 and will now continue to head the group until 2018.

According to ICC media release, Dravid, along with former Australia off-spinner and ex-Chief Executive of Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), Tim May, have been elected by the current Test captains as current player representatives, replacing former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who has completed his final three-year term, and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who has completed his three-year term. Jayawardena has been appointed as a past player representative and takes over from former Australia captain Mark Taylor, who has also completed his final three-year term.

Richard Kettleborough, three-time ICC Umpire of the Year, has been appointed as umpires’ representative in the committee and replaces Steve Davis, who retired last year.

ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, who also administers the ICC Cricket Committee meeting, said: “I want to thank Mark Taylor, Kumar Sangakkara, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Steve Davis for their significant contribution to this committee.

“I welcome Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardena, Tim May and Richard Kettleborough, and I am confident that these highly credentialed individuals will carry on the good work of their predecessors to make the sport even more competitive and attractive.”

The ICC Cricket Committee is representative of all stakeholders in the modern game, including players, umpires and the media. It is empowered to make recommendations on cricket playing issues to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) and, if the matter is a policy matter, the ICC Board for approval.