Sport | Cricket
Exciting times ahead for game, says cricket CEO
New chief Lorgat confident of tackling the challenges ahead.
- By K.R. Nayar, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:08 July 2, 2008
Dubai: Haroon Lorgat will take charge as the new International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer during the ongoing annual conference. He will become the third CEO in the ICC's 99 year history.
Lorgat spoke about the challenges ahead of him.
GULF NEWS: Are you all set to take up one of the most demanding posts in international cricket?
Haroon Lorgat: Yes I am very excited and looking forward to it. All my senses are indicating that the organisation is in a fantastic position. It has got its challenges, but there is a lot of goodwill and I am pretty excited.
How do you find the game shaping up around the world?
There is exciting time ahead. It was very encouraging to see a recent survey where Test cricket is still being rated as the foremost game that the players want to be involved in. More than 93 players indicated that they like Test cricket. We know that Twenty20 has been an exciting new phenomenon and there is no doubt that there is challenge for other forms of the game but there is a lot of interest for the 50 over format too.
Do you feel that different of the game gaining popularity makes players subject to an excess of cricket?
I think it is a challenge that one has to be aware of and if it is well managed there would not be any problem.
It is important that we identify properly where the load is and then keep an eye on it.
This region has been missing international cricket for a long time. Will you focus on bringing big cricket to this region?
With Dubai Sports City cricket stadium emerging, I see a very promising future for the game in this region. The Dubai Sports City is certainly putting up the infrastructure.
With the ICC global academy going to be based there I think it is going to be a natural progression that we may see international events in Dubai.
How much will it help Dubai as it is centrally located for all nations?
The logistics does help. However, one has to keep an eye on the cost base. Dubai is becoming inflationary and expensive. The ICC will always balance between where we want to be and what it costs us to be there, but I have no doubt that the facilities will be pretty good. So we are fortunate to have three fantastic products.
When you look back how has it been your journey to the top most position in world cricket?
I think I have been fortunate to have served cricket in South Africa. I was the convenor of South African selection panel and that helped me to interact with a lot of these people in the past. Equally on the other hand I had very good professional grounding and training.
I came through the ranks in one of the big four global firms and thus acquired managerial experience.
Haroon Lorgat was born on May 26, 1960.*He will become the third ICC chief executive after David Richards (1993 -2001) and Malcolm Speed (2001-2008).*He earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1985.*He played for Eastern Province and Transvaal in 76 first class matches from 1977 to 1991.*He is left-handed batsman and scored 2,813 runs with three centuries and 12 fifties. He has taken 191 wickets with his right arm medium pace.*He was selector of South African team from 2001 to 2003 and held the position of chairman of selectors from 2004 till 2007
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