MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board today accepted the joint nomination of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) of AHM Mustafa Kamal to the role of ICC VP for 2012-14 and then subsequently as ICC president 2014-15.

As a consequence of his nomination, Kamal will now be required to stand down as the President of the BCB.

Details of further decisions taken by the ICC Board will be announced tomorrow at the conclusion of the meeting.

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has tried to compensate for its inability to push through the Test Championship by announcing an enhanced prize money of a total of $3.8m to be shared among the top four sides over a three-year period.

The prize money will see an incremental increase year-on-year with a total of $1.2 million to be distributed in 2013. The amount will increase marginally to $1.27 million in 2014, while the total prize money will be $1.34 million.

Previously, the top team in the Reliance ICC Test rankings received a cheque for $175,000 but in future will receive a minimum of $450,000 rising to $500,000 in 2015. From 2016 there will be further increases in Test prize money.

The decision to hike prize money was taken at the ICC Board?s meeting in Dubai Wednesday.

The ICC Board also passed a unanimous resolution recommending to the ICC Council seeking an amendment to the ICC Articles of Association to split the president?s from 2014.

The recommendation, which creates a new system whereby the President would be an "ambassadorial" role appointed on a one-year rotational basis, while a Chairman would lead the Board, will be discussed at the next ICC Board meeting before being submitted for approval by the ICC Annual Conference in June.

As part of the process for changing amendments to constitution, the board also deferred the nomination of Bangladesh Cricket Board president Mustafa Kamal?s nomination for the post of vice-president from 2012-14 which was jointly put up by Pakistan Cricket Board and Bngladesh Cricket Board.

Furthermore, Egon Zehnder, the international executive recruitment firm, has been appointed to conduct the search for the ICC Chief Executive who will replace Haroon Lorgat when he vacates the position at the end of the Annual Conference in June 2012.

Other decisions taken at the ICC Board held the first of its scheduled 2012 meetings in Dubai on January 31 and February 1 were:

Independent Governance Review

Following adoption of the new ICC Strategic Plan in April 2011 which, inter-alia, identified the need for an independent governance review as one of the key initiatives to ?Build a Bigger, Better Global Game?, the ICC Board received from Lord Woolf of Barnes and PricewaterhouseCoopers a 60-page report containing 65 recommendations and a transitional plan.

The report was presented at the meeting and, as was previously decided, the Board agreed to study the report in detail together with ICC Members and other stakeholders before fully considering the report and its recommendations at the next Board meeting in April 2012. The recommendations are summarised into five main areas: Role of the ICC, The ICC Board, Ethics, Membership, Board structure & Committees, and Funding.

Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP)

The ICC Board approved an initial $12m Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (?TAPP?) which is aimed at developing more competitive teams among Full Members and Associate/Affiliate Members. This decision sets in practice an initiative identified in the ICC Strategic Plan, the ?Targeted Performance Fund?, and is also in line with a recommendation contained in the Woolf Report.

Amongst the necessary criteria, Member applicants will need to present a proper strategy and business plan aimed specifically at improving on-field performance (Performance Improvement Plan (?PIP?).

Guyana and the West Indies Cricket Board

While condemning the interference of local government in the affairs of Guyana Cricket Association by dissolving the board and replacing it with an interim committee, the ICC Borad also reiterated the principle of non-interference in the sport by Governments also recognised by the West Indies Cricket Board, the governing body of cricket in the Caribbean.