ICC Board to review ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and 2015 submissions and consider hosting of other events

The ICC Board will convene in Dubai on Sunday 30 April to consider the hosting of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 and 2015.

The Board will be asked to consider a now compliant submission from the four Asian Full Members - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - and a joint application from Australia and New Zealand.

ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said that it would be a very difficult decision for the Board to make.

"We put in place some very strict compliance guidelines so a lot of work has gone into both of these submissions," said Mr Speed.

"Both have government support and have indicated their ability to comply with strict ICC criteria regarding the number of venues, the quality of facilities and the exemption from tax.

"This leaves us in a very positive position where we have two strong options for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and there will doubtless be extensive discussion as to which submission will be successful.

"It may be that neither submission has sufficient support at the end of the meeting in which case the Board will have to reconvene at a later date. This has happened in the past, most notably during discussions regarding the hosting of the 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup, and is something we will deal with if required."

A decision of the ICC Board requires the support of the majority of Full and Associate Member representatives including at least seven of the 10 Full Members.

If the Board makes a decision on the hosting of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and 2015 it will then consider the hosting of a range of other events including the ICC Champions Trophy and a Twenty20 World Championship.

After the last ICC Board meeting in Dubai in March it was agreed to give leave to the four Asian countries to make a late compliant submission on or prior to 21 April 2006 subject to the following conditions:

Almost 80 submissions have been received from ICC Members for the package of events that stretches through to 2015. This package is focused on increasing the quality of competition while managing the quantity. The proposed formats for these major ICC events will account for approximately 175 days of cricket over nine years from 2007 to 2015 as opposed to the 186 days of ICC tournament cricket that were included in the shorter cycle from 2000 to 2007.

ICC Champions Trophy - six members have submitted to host the new-format eight team ICC Champions Trophy which will take place from 2008. These are Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and West Indies.

ICC Twenty20 World Championship - seven members have submitted to host what is expected to become a nine-day Twenty20 event which could begin as early as 2007. These are England, Malaysia, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, UAE and West Indies.

ICC Women's World Cup - four countries have submitted to host the first ICC Women's World Cup in 2009. These are Australia, India, Malaysia and UAE.

Other events to be considered include Division One of the ICC World Cricket League, the ICC World Cup Qualifier (formerly ICC Trophy) and the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup.

All decisions regarding the hosting of major ICC events are subject to final approval of the ICC Annual Conference which takes place at Lord's Cricket Ground in July 2006.

The ICC Board comprises the Presidents/Chairmen or designated nominees of the 10 Full Members and three representatives from ICC Associate Members.

Attendees at the meeting will be:

Ehsan Mani (Chairman) - ICC President Percy Sonn - ICC Vice-President Malcolm Speed - ICC Chief Executive Officer

Full Members

Creagh O'Connor - Australia
Mohammad Ali Asghar MP - Bangladesh
David Morgan - England
IS Bindra - India (as an alternate for Sharad Pawar)
Martin Snedden - New Zealand (as an alternate for Sir John Anderson KBE)
Shaharyar Khan - Pakistan
Jayantha Dharmadasa - Sri Lanka
Ray Mali - South Africa
Ken Gordon - West Indies
Peter Chingoka - Zimbabwe

Associate Members

Stanley Perlman - Israel
HRH Tunku Imran - Malaysia
Mazhar Khan - United Arab Emirates