ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat outlines his vision for the International Cricket Council

A values based organization

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat outlines his vision for the International Cricket Council

It is a huge honour for me to become only the third Chief Executive in the ICC’s 99-year history. I am indeed privileged to have stepped into this role at a time of many and great opportunities, and with it comes as one would come to expect, many challenges.

We now have three viable forms of the game at domestic and international level and there is more than ever before, growing interest and more money flowing into our sport. These are great opportunities that we should exploit wisely so that we ensure a sustainable and growing sport… provided of course our collective leadership leads smartly.

Leading smartly is about living our values in everything that we do. In my humble view, that attitude would ensure we make the right decisions and ensure our future and our growth is sustainable. My fervent desire is to build a “values based” organization rather than a “rules based” one. On this account we should all test ourselves regularly on whether we live the values that the ICC espouses or do we simply follow and bend the rules whenever and wherever possible. That would make our ICC values nothing more than simple words on paper!

So what are our ICC values?

• Openness, honesty and integrity

• Excellence

• Accountability and responsibility

• Commitment to the game

• Respect for our diversity

• Fairness and equity

• Working as a team

These are a set of values that I subscribe to wholeheartedly as it aligns very easily with my own personal values. I want to leave you with no doubt that I will live and expect from each and every one that I deal with an unwritten and clear observance of our values. Be it my staff, our Directors, Members, commercial partners, players and all other stakeholders. I have no doubt that if we live and be guided by our values, we will succeed in ensuring our strong sport grows stronger. In a diverse and ever changing environment, this is the only way we can succeed and leave behind legacies for generations to follow.

With values as a given, my approach to leading an organization is to simplify and clearly understand the role and operations by answering three simple questions – *What do we do? Why we do what we do? How do we support what we do?*This would allow us to break down our role as the game’s global governing body into sections that are easily understandable.

What do we do? This would identify the core functions that we operate and in my view there are three core areas: We run major events; we manage cricket operations and provide cricket services; and we assist in member development and services.

The major events include the ICC Cricket World Cup; the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Twenty20. These are our primary global events that showcase all that is great about our sport at the elite level, to inspire and captivate all who watch them. These events are in addition to the pinnacle of our game – Test Cricket.

These events are also the ICC’s major revenue sources thanks to agreements with our broadcast and commercial partners. And as we are a not-for-profit organization that ploughs back all profits to Members, these events also ensure the financial well-being of our Members. Most of us would not be able to sustain and grow without the funding that flows from these ICC events.

We also offer cricket services to our Members. These range from assistance in anti-doping; providing advice on securing broadcast and commercial agreements to ensuring our sport remains ethically sound. We also provide umpires and referees for international matches and ensure that cricket is played in accordance with the games rules, regulations and the spirit of cricket.

And there is Member development & services – from the administrative assistance we offer through our five regional offices to women’s cricket, which we integrated under our control in 2005, the High Performance Program, which targets the top 10 Associates, and tournaments such as the ICC World Cricket League and the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which allows aspiring players that participate to compete at the highest level they can.

Why do we do what we do? Our aim is to grow our sport and ensure it is popular, entertaining and continues to embody its long standing traditional values. My own aspiration as chief executive is simple: to make ourselves and cricket the best we can be as a leading global sport. If we always seek to make decisions on what is best for the game world-wide, then that will go a long way to making sure our strong sport grows stronger in the years ahead.

How do we support what we do? Optimizing our commercial opportunities and being operationally sound and efficient will support the attainment of our goals. These are important support functions and I would typically refer to these as ‘commercial optimization’ and ‘operational excellence’. Integral to our survival and growth are partners who invest in us and work with us in pursuit of our vision.

At the outset I talked about the wonderful opportunities presented to cricket, but instead I keep getting reminded about the many challenges. Without opportunity there would be no challenges! We should be asking if those challenges are real or perceived. Can we manage them? Have we faced similar before and successfully navigated through them?

My analysis clearly indicates exciting times ahead for the game – and as expected with money and past successes combined - comes our current day challenges. As leaders it is our role and responsibility to navigate through these current day challenges and reposition ourselves for even greater times ahead. We have three attractive and viable forms of the game at domestic and international level, and that is something few, if any other sport, can lay claim to.

As far as the pinnacle of our game is concerned, we are exploring the concepts and viability of a Test Championship. Its early days but excitement is running high. And, why not? Test cricket has stood the test of time for 131 years and continues to enjoy pride of place amongst our players.

With the explosion in Twenty20 cricket amongst many enthusiasts, new and existing, we have an opportunity to grow the game exponentially. But rapid growth in itself is a threat and, as leaders, we need to manage this growth in a controlled fashion. Short term gain may lead to longer term failure. What we need is a shared strategy on this format. A pleasing aim could be to play Twenty20 cricket in the 2020 Olympics!

Finally, I would dearly wish to work towards improving the image of the ICC. I am rather disappointed to encounter certain stakeholders with negative views on the role and relevance of the ICC. I sincerely invite stakeholders to engage with me to explore what these perceptions or troublesome issues are, and I would be sincere in my efforts to engage with you to achieve a common vision for this great game of cricket. I know the President, David Morgan, shares the same desire. As a start we are looking forward to engaging with Members to better understand our respective horizons. The prelude to improving our image is to improve relationships amongst all of us. I look forward to engaging with you and to build a trusting relationship based on our values.

Let’s not forget that in a few months time we will usher in the ICC’s centenary year of 2009. My timing as chief executive is indeed fortunate as we are likely to have a breathtaking centenary year – including a move into our brand new custom built headquarters in Dubai Sports City.

We have mouth watering and icon Test series on offer – countries ranked one and two confront each other, Pakistan plays India, then the Ashes in England, CWC qualifier, Women’s World Cup, World Twenty20, and a remodeled Champions Trophy. One cannot argue that this is Nation versus Nation at its best in all forms of the game right in our centenary year!

Breathtaking indeed! It will certainly be a time for celebration as we reflect on the past 100 years since Sir Abe Bailey founded the Imperial Cricket Conference. It will surely provide us as leaders with an opportunity to reflect on how we wish to influence the next 100 years. So in reality I am fortunate to be at the helm at very interesting times and I look forward to working with all of you to promote and protect our game and its unique spirit.