Sunil Gavaskar on Wednesday announced he was standing down as chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. The International Cricket Council's acting Chief Executive Officer David Richards said: “We are indebted to the work Sunil has put into his role as Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. “He has brought his vast experience of the game to bear, not only over the eight years of his chairmanship but also the six years prior to that, when he was a delegate on the same committee. “Having someone of Sunil's stature involved has to be of benefit to the game and given the ICC's lengthy relationship with him we hope we can still utilize his knowledge in some other capacity in the future.” Gavaskar, a popular television commentator, had described England and Australia as “dinosaurs, still trying to voice their prejudiced opinions in the media, and may not open their eyes and see the reality” in a syndicated column in March. In January, the former Indian player claimed white ICC match referee Mike Procter was biased against Indian players because of their skin color, after the South African found spinner Harbhajan Singh guilty of racially abusing Andrew Symonds in the Sydney test. Gavaskar, in an ICC statement, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed the eight years I have held the role which is an honorary position, and it has been extremely fulfilling to be able to give back to the game through that role. “However, with more and more cricket being played it has become clear that it is not possible for me to do justice to two jobs, the chairmanship of the ICC Cricket Committee and my media commitments. “As an example of that, I had to leave my professional commitments as a commentator on the Indian Premier League matches in order to come and chair this year's meeting in Dubai. “I envisaged the potential for this sort of issue two years ago and intimated then that I was not able to continue in the role but when I was asked to do so I was honored to be re-elected. “Now, however, it is clear I cannot combine both roles and therefore I am relinquishing the chair of the ICC Cricket Committee.” The former India captain, the first player in history to top 10,000 Test runs and an ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1983, arrived at his decision in the wake of a meeting of the ICC Board in March in Dubai. At that meeting the Board discussed the potential for a conflict of interest for a person chairing the ICC Cricket Committee while, at the same time, working for a media outlet. That fear was put to Gavaskar when he met ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed in Dubai later that same month. No decision has yet been made on who will succeed Gavaskar.
