Three candidates will contest the upcoming Chief Executives’ Committee election for a coveted Associate Member seat among influential cricket powerbrokers.

As I flagged last month, veteran administrator Sumod Damodar (Botswana), Vignaesh Sankaran (Germany) and Richard Done (Papua New Guinea) will run for one of the three AM spots on the CEC, it has been confirmed to me.

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The seat was vacated by Mubashshir Usmani, a rising administrator at the helm of the Emirates Cricket Board who was last month elected to the ICC board – where the power lies and is soon to be headed by India boss Jay Shah.

Amid Shah’s takeover and changes to the ICC board, the CEC election has gone unnoticed in the background. It appears to be a race between Damodar and Done, who both fell one vote short in last year’s CEC election.

Damodar was on the CEC for three terms until last year when he lost out to Usmani, Rashpal Bajwa (Canada) and Denmark’s Umair Butt. The outspoken Damodar was also previously the chair of the African Cricket Association.

Done is a high-profile administrator having previously had senior roles at the ICC and USA Cricket. Not widely known, Sankaran looms as the wildcard but it is learned he does have support from a section of voters.

Voting starts on Thursday with results expected shortly after polls close on September 17.

The CEC is supposed to promote and develop cricket worldwide, while governing and regulating the sport at the international level.

Being on it is highly coveted for Associate chiefs, who get to mix with the top bosses from the Full Members and the CEC is often seen as a stepping stone to get onto the ICC board – as Usmani has proven. Those on the board, too, will want to form relationships in a bid to develop allegiances.

Damodar, if elected, is hoping to push the cause for Associate nations to have their own marquee events. The Intercontinental Cup, a first-class competition for Associate cricket that was launched in 2004, has been defunct since 2017.

Damodar believed a continental competition, played in the T20 format and similar in concept to golf’s Ryder Cup and the Laver Cup in tennis, could help provide more fixtures and exposure to the Associates, who get less funding and playing opportunities than cricket’s biggest countries.

“There is enough depth in Associate cricket where competitive continental teams can be formed from Asia, Africa, Europe, perhaps Asia-Pacific, and even the Americas with the success of the U.S. at the T20 World Cup,” Damodar told me.

“There has been more talk about creating events in the interest of trying to promote the game amongst Associate members.

“I feel it’s high time and long overdue that we collectively discuss ways to show that Associate cricket is a valuable product. Associate cricket has grown considerably and that should be reflected commercially.”

Voters from 40 Associate Members and five regional representatives (Americas, Asia, Europe, East Asia-Pacific and Africa) will select one candidate each.

Under ICC rules, candidates have to be a representative of an Associate Member or a current/past ICC director.

The newly-elected member will only have a short term, with the next CEC election set for mid-2025, and he will also be part of the Associate Member Committee helping govern and regulate the Associate level.