Sunil Gavaskar

Calcutta: Former Australia captain Mark Taylor, Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene and West Indies’ fast bowling great Michael Holding will be part of the newly-constituted ICC Cricket Committee.

The 13-member panel, which would meet for the first time on May 30th and 31st in Dubai, will be chaired by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, according to information received here on Tuesday.

The committee also includes Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel (Australia), chief ICC Match Referee and former Sri Lanka captain Ranjan Madugalle and Craig Wright, the former Scotland captain.

According to an ICC release, the panel also features Tom Moody, the recently-appointed Western Australia coach, who guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup final.

The Cricket Committee also includes former West Indies fast bowler-turned commentator Ian Bishop and Tim May, former Australia off-spinner and now the chief executive officer of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations. Duleep Mendis, former captain and now Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive, is also included.

Among current players, Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene replaces teammate Kumar Sangakkara, who was the original nominee but had to opt out owing to County cricket commitments, the ICC release stated.

The committee also has representatives from the MCC (Keith Bradshaw) and statistician (David Kendix).

Taufel felt the inclusion of umpires in the committee would make a difference.

“The Elite Panel is very pleased to have representation on the committee and be able to have input into how the game is structured at the highest level,” said Taufel.

“There is an enormous amount of cricket experience on the Elite Panel and we hope to be able to contribute in a positive way to improving the game for all participants and spectators.”

Michael Holding, who has already been part of an ICC panel of experts that examined the issue of illegal bowling actions, said: “If the ICC believes I can make a contribution to the committee then I am delighted to take part.

“I am always happy to be involved in anything that is for the betterment of the game.”

The remit of the committee is to discuss and consult on any cricket-playing matters and to formulate recommendations to the Chief Executives Committee, which relate to cricket-playing matters.