The ICC Chairman Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly have joined the newly-formed MCC Advisory Board.
The board was spawned out of the World Cricket Connects hosted by the MCC at Lord’s in 2024 when 120 of the leading voices in the sport gathered to discuss the game.
The MCC said it wants the board, which will meet virtually in the main, to be a ‘leading symposium’ in the sport ‘to ensure cricket’s future success.’
“As the Club evolves the World Cricket Connects concept, the aim is for it to become the leading symposium in the game, facilitating the debate of strategic issues in an independent forum and establishing a consensus on paths to ensure cricket’s future success.”
“To achieve this objective, MCC has revealed today that a new World Cricket Connects Advisory Board (Connects Board) has been formed.”
This independent group will shape the annual World Cricket Connects agenda, help facilitate the event’s discussions, and in turn, maximise the opportunity for genuine impact on the health of the game,” said the MCC.
The former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and ex-MCC President, will be the chairman of the new Connects Board.
Other members include Mel Jones (former Australia international and current Broadcaster), Heather Knight (Englan women’s captain), Graeme Smith (Former South Africa captain and League Commissioner at SA20) and Andrew Strauss (Former England captain and former Director of Cricket at ECB).
People like Anurag Dahiya (Chief Commercial Officer at ICC), Chris Dehring (CEO at West Indies Cricket), Sanjog Gupta (CEO-Sports, JioStar), Trudy Lindblade (CEO at Cricket Scotland), Heath Mills (Executive Chair at World Cricketers’ Association), Imtiaz Patel (Former Chair of SuperSport, MultiChoice and DStv) form the rest of the new Connects Board.
The new edition of MCC’s World Cricket Connects symposium whose inaugural edition in July 2024, will be held at Lord’s on June 07 and 08 ahead of the ICC WTC final between South Africa and Australia.
“Firstly, we are delighted to be bringing World Cricket Connects back to Lord’s in 2025, ahead of an immense meeting between South Africa and Australia in the ICC World Test Championship Final.”
“We are looking forward to welcoming many of the game’s most influential figures to debate the most important topics that dominate global cricket.”
“In planning the second event, an important step has been made in the forming of the World Cricket Connects Advisory Board. We have assembled an impressive group of the best minds in cricket across several different areas relevant to our sport.”
“I am delighted to be working with this experienced group and excited about what we can collectively achieve for the benefit of the global game,” said Nicholas.
