By IANS
New Delhi : Former South African chief selector Haroon Lorgat, who was Friday appointed only the third chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), takes over the reins at a time when the game is gaining unprecedented commercial attention globally.
Lorgat will replace Malcolm Speed of Australia during the ICC annual conference, to be held between June 29 and July 4.
A former first-class player, Lorgat was appointed after his compatriot Imtiaz Patel declined the offer. But the suave, bespectacled 47-year-old chartered accountant is probably no less competent than Patel as he has held many responsible positions as a professional.
As an all-rounder, he represented Eastern Province and Transvaal between 1977-78 and 1990-91. A useful batsman, he scored 2,813 runs, hit three centuries and 12 half-centuries. He also took 191 wickets with his right-arm medium pace.
Having played 76 first-class matches before the black and white associations merged in South Africa in 1991, Lorgat is competent enough to understand and meet the demands of a commercial sport.
Cricketers the world over will particularly feel happy as in the former cricketer they will have someone who would ‘feel’ for them while dealing with several contentious player-related issues facing the ICC.
Many people believe that Lorgat’s predecessor, Speed, a lawyer, did not handle a few issues as deftly as players had expected from him. In particular, the controversial players’ endorsement issue that threatened the 2002 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and cast a dark shadow over the 2003 World Cup in South Africa before it was resolved.
Lorgat joins the ICC at its Dubai headquarters when the player power is on the rise, what with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association gaining strength after being allowed to attend some ICC meetings.
Before Lorgat, only two people have occupied the CEO’s chair — David Richards (1993-2001) and Speed (2001-2008).
Born May 26, 1960, in Port Elizabeth, Lorgat attended the city’s Woolhope High School, from where he graduated in 1978. He acquired a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University in Eastern Province where he specialised in accountancy, and then completed a Certificate in Theory of Accounting at the same university.
Lorgat qualified as a chartered accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1985. He worked for Coopers and Lybrand and IBM Johannesburg in the 1980s before setting up his own accountancy practice, H. Lorgat & Co., in 1987.
Since then, Lorgat has been managing partner of M. Brey & Associates, Kmmt Brey and Gobodo Inc in the Western Cape, all of which are firms of accountants.
He is currently an executive director of Kapela Investments Holdings, an investment company with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and also a non-executive director of Santam Ltd., a South African commercial and corporate insurance company.
Lorgat has an impressive track record in cricket administration. He has been chairman of Western Province Professional Cricket and a board member at Western Province Cricket Association.
He has served as a finance committee member for the racially merged United Cricket Board of South Africa (1999-2004), he was a member of the World Cup Finance Committee (2000-2003), has been a board director and treasurer of Cricket South Africa (2003-2004) and a selector (2001-2003).
In 2004, he was appointed chairman of selectors for Cricket South Africa, a position he held until last year.
Lorgat was married in 1985 and has one son and one daughter.