Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was asked to choose between his media commitments and role as the Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee, relinquished his job with the game's world governing body. Gavaskar conveyed his decision to the ICC on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, a day after chairing the Cricket Committee meeting which concluded in Dubai.
The ICC had put Gavaskar on notice after discussing the potential for a conflict of interest for a person chairing the ICC Cricket Committee while, at the same time, working for a media outlet in its meeting in March in Dubai.
Gavaskar said with more and more cricket it was not possible for him to do justice with the two jobs. "I have thoroughly enjoyed the eight years I have held the role [of ICC cricket committee chairman], which is an honorary position, and it has been extremely fulfilling to be able to give back to the game through that role," Gavaskar said about his decision.
Gavaskar said that his media commitments made it difficult to fulfill dual responsibilities. "However, with more and more cricket being played it has become clear that it is not possible for me to do justice to two jobs, the chairmanship of the ICC cricket committee and my media commitments. "As an example of that, I had to leave my professional commitments as a commentator on the Indian Premier League matches in order to come and chair this year's meeting in Dubai."
The master bastman, who was re-elected at the high-profile post on ICC's insistence, said it was not possible for him to juggle in different responsibilities at the same time. "As an example of that, I had to leave my professional commitments as a commentator on the Indian Premier League matches in order to come and chair this year's meeting in Dubai", Gavaskar said.
"I envisaged the potential for this sort of issue two years ago and intimated then that I was not able to continue in the role but when I was asked to do so I was honoured to be re-elected. Now, however, it is clear I cannot combine both roles and therefore I am relinquishing the chair of the ICC Cricket Committee," said the first cricketer to score 10,000 Test runs.
'Gavaskar's services will be missed'
Speaking about Gavaskar's resignation exclusively to TIMES NOW, Dave Richardson, the acting CEO of the ICC said, "We are indebted to the work Sunil has put into his role as chairman of the ICC cricket committee. He has brought his vast experience of the game to bear, not only over the eight years of his chairmanship but also the six years prior to that, when he was a delegate on the same committee."
He added, "The decision was amicable and it was obvious the Sunil had to stick to his media committments. There was no option left for him. Three years, Sunil wanted to resign from the ICC cricket committee, but we urged him to carry on. As of now we have not thought about a replacement. An entire nomination process will take place to decide the next Chairman of the ICC cricket committee."
Speaking about the relations between the ICC and Sunil Gavaskar, Dave Richardson confirmed that there is no animosity between Malcolm Speed (CEO) and Sunil. He said, "We respect Sunil as a cricketer and as a person. We will look at ways in which his services can be utilized in the near future. It is a big loss to the ICC but Sunil's media committments were also increasing. From time to time we will use his services as a consultant, but the ICC will miss services of Gavaskar."
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