New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) The Board of the International Cricket Council (ICC) has recommended changes in the term of its Chair and Independent Director to two terms of three years, adding that this proposal will now be circulated to members for approval.

As of now, the two posts were set a maximum of three terms of two years each. Now with the recommended rule change to amend the tenures of chair and independent director to a maximum of two terms of three years each, cricket’s global governing body is in sync with how the terms at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last.

Following the approval from the ICC members, Jay Shah will begin his first term as ICC Chair from December 1 for three years after departing as BCCI Secretary. ICC also said Dr. John Maclean has been included in the Medical Advisory Committee following the retirement of Dr Roger Hawkes.

In its Board meeting held in Dubai on Monday, the ICC also said New Zealand Cricket (NZC) CEO Scott Weenink has been appointed as Full Member representative, while the Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards is named as Associate Member representative.

Another big outcome from the ICC Board is its approval of a series of women’s Associate Member T20 competitions to boost the competitiveness of the teams. The development comes with an eye towards the expansion of teams in the ICC women’s events in the 2028-2031 cycle.

The ICC Board said the strategy includes creating two annual T20I tournaments between 2025 and 2028 which would offer structured cricket with context to 24 teams in the pathway ahead of the 16-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2030.

The ICC added further details that will be announced in due course while saying the 2025-2029 women’s FTP and calendar have been approved and will be published in the coming days. The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) has okayed the change in women’s rankings annual update – it will now move to May 1 from October 1 of each year.

As part of the updates to the rankings, teams will now need to have played a minimum of eight matches, which is up from six, due to the significant increase in women’s international cricket calendar.

The ICC CEC also confirmed the pathway for granting ODI status for the five Associate Member women’s teams of the 16 for the 2025-2029 cycle. It will consist of a maximum of two associate teams that qualify for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2025 with the remaining slots determined by the ICC T20I team rankings at the time of annual update.