Cricket administration in Zimbabwe has made a landmark achievement in world cricket’s apex body.
The ICC Board has made it official to appoint Tavengwa Mukuhlani, head of Zimbabwe Cricket, as its vice-chairman. This is the first time in the ICC’s history that a Zimbabwean has been appointed in such a capacity.
This will be his position until November 2027.
It is from Imran Khwaja, who has held the office since his election in 2008.
There was a certain pattern of events that took place internally at ICC in the process of the transition.
Khwaja resigned from his position as deputy chair after the ICC’s annual general meeting in July, after losing board elections in that very month.
His resignation created the opportunity for Mukuhlani to occupy the position since he is a longtime member of ICC’s administrative committees.
Mukuhlani is certainly not an amateur when it comes to ICC governance.
He is a member of the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee, as well as the Nominations Committee of ICC, and he is the Chairman of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee.
Mukuhlani is the Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket from 2015 up till now, while he is also a member of the ICC Board since August 2015.
Chairman of the ICC, Jay Shah, expressed delight in the appointment, seeing it as a recognition of himself and also an important milestone for the sport’s presence in Africa.
“His knowledge of administration of cricket, knowledge of the sport globally, and passion for its development will certainly be invaluable to the ICC Board,” Shah stated, saying it was “an important milestone for Zimbabwe.”
Mukuhlani adopted an optimistic approach as well in his statement. “Cricket is a sport that is going through an exciting period, especially considering its participation in the Olympic Games and global growth,” he stated, referring to Los Angeles 2028.
The particular importance of his appointment comes with regard to African cricket in general.
There are plans underway for Zimbabwe to co-host the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027 with South Africa and Namibia, only the second time that the continent will host the event after the 2003 version held jointly with South Africa and Kenya.
There have certainly been some stormy periods during his decade in charge of the Zimbabwe Cricket organization; he has seen off the threat posed by their suspension from the ICC in July 2019 over governance issues.
This is certainly not the first time that Mukuhlani has put himself forward as a contender for a high-ranking position at the ICC.
Earlier, all the way back in 2022, Mukuhlani had even contested for the ICC presidency against then-ICC president Greg Barclay but later decided to withdraw his nomination realizing that Greg Barclay enjoyed more support in voting.
It is believed that his campaign during that time was successful in ensuring better financial benefits and committee representation for smaller cricket bodies.
