Palani, Usmani, Rudie elected as ICC Associate Member Directors

Edinburgh, Jul 9 (PTI) France's Gurumurthy Palani, Mubashshir Usmani of United Arab Emirates and Namibia's Rudie van Vuuren have been elected as Associate Member Directors on the International Cricket Council (ICC) board for a two-year period. The election was held during the ICC Annual Conference here on Wednesday. The three elected Directors will represent the Associate Members on the ICC Board. Palani and Van Vuuren will join the ICC Board for the first time, while Usmani has been re-elected after serving as an Associate Director over the past two years. The election was contested by five candidates, with the incumbent Directors Usmani, Imran Khwaja and Mahinda Vallipuram joined by Palani and Van Vuuren. A total of 43 Associate Members were eligible to vote in the election. USA Cricket and Cricket Canada were ineligible to participate as they remain suspended from ICC Membership. The result will require an election for Palani’s position on the Chief Executives’ Committee as he is unable to hold both positions. "Associate Members play a vital role in the continued growth and global expansion of our sport, and I look forward to working closely with them as we build on the strong progress being made across all regions. "I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Imran Khwaja and Mahinda Vallipuram for their dedication and service to Associate cricket," said ICC chairman Jay Shah in a statement. PTI APA BS BS