South African Haroon Lorgat was appointed chief executive officer of International Cricket Council today.

Lorgat’s appointment was confirmed by the ICC board following a meeting between him and ICC president-elect David Morgan in Pretoria on Wednesday.

After that meeting, the recruitment committee comprising ICC president Ray Mali, Morgan, ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar and ICC director Creagh O’Connor agreed to Lorgat’s appointment and made the recommendation to the ICC board, an ICC statement said.

Announcing Lorgat’s appointment, Mali said, “I am delighted Haroon will assume the role of the next ICC CEO. He is a great team player ... he will do an outstanding job.”

President-elect David Morgan expressed his delight on Lorgat accepting the ICC CEO's job. “I am absolutely delighted Haroon has accepted our offer to become ICC chief executive officer,” Morgan said.

Lorgat, who will become only the third CEO in the ICC’s 99-year history, will take over from the incumbent CEO Malcolm Speed, following the ICC Annual Conference between June 29 and July 4.

‘Difficult to ban sledging’

BCCI’s plans to get sledging banned from cricket encountered a roadblock today with the ICC’s next CEO Haroon Lorgat saying on-field chatter cannot be done away with completely. Lorgat, a former first class player himself, felt sledging was not a new phenomenon and was not restricted to cricket. “I think it will be difficult to ban sledging completely at the highest level. Sledging is a part of the game, it is part of any sport at the highest level,” he said.

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