Dubai , 4 April 2008President Ray Mali says “Haroon is a great team player… he will do an outstanding job”
President-Elect David Morgan says “Haroon has the ideal skill-set…we have got the right man to help forge an exciting future for the game”
Background as player, administrator, selector and in business
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that Haroon Lorgat had been appointed as the organisation’s next Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Mr Lorgat, 47, will take over from the current CEO, Malcolm Speed, following the ICC Annual Conference which is scheduled to take place between 29 June and 4 July.
Mr Lorgat’s appointment was confirmed by the ICC Board following a meeting between the candidate and David Morgan , the ICC President-Elect, in Pretoria on Wednesday.
After that meeting the Recruitment Committee – made up of ICC President Ray Mali, Mr Morgan, ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar and ICC Director Creagh O’Connor ( Australia ) – agreed to the appointment and made its recommendation to the ICC Board.
Mr Lorgat will become only the third CEO in the ICC’s 99-year history. The first person to occupy the role was David Richards , who held the post from 1993 to 2001.
At present, Mr Lorgat is an executive director of Kapela Investments Holdings, an investment company with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg , and also a non-executive director of Santam Ltd, a South African commercial and corporate insurance company.
Mr Lorgat also played first-class cricket for Eastern Province and Transvaal as a left-hand batsman and right-arm medium-pacer, scoring 2,813 runs (including three hundreds) and capturing 191 wickets.
Since retiring as a player he has served on the Board of the Western Province Cricket Association and also on finance committees for the United Cricket Board of South Africa and ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.
To complete his outstanding curriculum vitae, Mr Lorgat served as a national selector from 2001 to 2003 and then chaired that panel from 2004 to 2007.
Commenting on Mr Lorgat’s appointment, Mr Mali said: “I am delighted Haroon will assume the role of the next Chief Executive Officer for the ICC.
“I have worked alongside him for a decade in South African cricket and I have seen first-hand what a great team player he is and that is something that will serve both him and the game extremely well in the years to come.
“His background in cricket, business and administration is ideally suited to the role and I am sure he will do an outstanding job in leading our global game in the right direction.”
Mr Morgan said: “I am absolutely delighted Haroon has accepted our offer to become ICC Chief Executive Officer.
“His skill-set is ideal: he brings experience from the corporate world, has played the game to a high level, has already served as a cricket administrator and been chairman of selectors for South Africa, a position he held as recently as last year.
“It has been an exhaustive, worldwide search to reach this point and we had several outstanding candidates in the final frame, all of whom brought something unique to the table.
“It is great news for the ICC and the game around the world that Haroon has accepted our offer and he now has the opportunity to help forge an exciting future for the game.
“The ICC Board has every confidence in him doing just that and we are certain he will relish the challenges that lie ahead,” added Mr Morgan.
Commenting on his appointment as ICC Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lorgat said: “I am grateful to the ICC for appointing me as its new CEO and look forward to an exciting and rewarding journey in a game I have truly loved from a very young age.
“I am delighted to be appointed to the role and am really excited by the opportunity to contribute my energy, skills and passion at the highest level.
“I am under no illusion about the challenges that await me but those challenges are also opportunities and I cannot wait to start work at the highest level in such a great game.”
ICC MEDIA RELEASE