Suspended Board of Control for Cricket in India President N. Srinivasan is expected to be anointed as the new Int'l Cricket Council chairman at this week’s annual conference in Melbourne, "which is set to address growing concerns about corruption in the sport," according to the AFP. The BCCI confirmed that Srinivasan "will stand as chairman of the ICC despite being suspended by India’s Supreme Court as the country’s cricket chief." Srinivasan -- seen as the most powerful man in world cricket -- "was among 13 people named in a damning report into corruption allegations in the Indian Premier League." Despite the scandal, BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel confirmed that Srinivasan "would go to Melbourne and was expected to be anointed ICC chairman." Patel said, "By the month end, India will take a leading role in the ICC" (AFP, 6/22). In Dubai, K.R. Nayar wrote though India’s Supreme Court has restrained Srinivasan from performing the BCCI president’s duties following the IPL match-fixing scandal, "they refused to restrain him from taking over as the chairman of the ICC." On Sunday, Srinivasan "was also unanimously re-elected president" of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association in his state’s 84th annual general meeting (GULF NEWS, 6/23). In Melbourne, Chloe Saltau wrote Australia "is standing by the man it backed for world cricket's top job, no matter how much squeamishness that might cause those who prefer their supremos without conflicts or scandals." There is "seemingly nothing to stop" Srinivasan becoming the first chairman of the ICC. One senior cricket figure dubbed Australia and England "campaign managers" for a man who has been banned by the Indian Supreme Court from being president of his own board during a corruption investigation. Even those who argue that the allegations against Srinivasan are unsubstantiated, and that he is victim of a "vendetta with its motivation deep in the politics of Indian cricket," admit that "he has an outrageous conflict of interest" (THE AGE, 6/23).
