Cricket: Snedden strong contender for chairman of new cricket board

Martin Snedden was chief executive of NZC from 2001 until 2007, when he stood down to take over the running of Rugby New Zealand 2011. Photo / Duncan Brown

Martin Snedden will be among those recommended for positions on the new board of New Zealand Cricket.

The names of the eight people to form the board have come from an appointments panel headed by NZC president and former international Stephen Boock, and will be revealed tomorrow.

Snedden, who played 25 tests and 93 ODIs, was chief executive of NZC from 2001 until 2007, when he stood down to take over the running of Rugby New Zealand 2011. More recently, Snedden has been chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association.

NZC has a special general meeting next Thursday, at which the new board will be installed.

They will then choose the chairman to replace the outgoing Chris Moller. Given his strong credentials in sports business administration, along with his accumulated cricketing wisdom, Snedden would be an obvious choice as chairman.

Snedden's time as NZC chief executive - during Sir John Anderson's reign as chairman - was punctuated by the 2002 standoff between the players and the board over contract negotiations and politics, when New Zealand refused to travel to Kenya during the 2003 World Cup because of terrorism concerns.

When Boock revealed the plans for changing the board in July - as part of a new constitution approved at a meeting that month - he hoped at least 100 applicants would come forward including plenty with strong cricketing connections.

Three members of the board, Stuart Heal, Greg Barclay and Don Mackinnon, signalled their intention to reapply.

Moller, chairman for the last three years, prominent broadcaster Bill Francis, Sir John Hansen and Therese Walsh - head of the New Zealand arm of the 2015 World Cup committee - said they would stand down.

The appointments panel includes Sport New Zealand representative Sir John Wells, and three of the six major association chairmen, Rex Smith (Auckland), Murray Hughes (Otago) and Lachlan Muldowney (Northern Districts).

Boock has said the makeup of the panel should ensure "we are going to get what the members of New Zealand cricket want", meaning a board with a greater, if not overpowering presence of cricket people.

Boock called the new constitution "starting again" rather than patching up the old document.