Veteran administrator Sumod Damodar will return to the influential Chief Executives’ Committee after winning the election for a coveted Associate Member seat.

Damodar (Botswana) beat out Richard Done (PNG) and Vignaesh Sankaran (Germany) for one of the three AM spots up for grabs on the CEC, it has been confirmed to me.

As expected it was a battle between Damodar and Done with the long-time Botswana cricket chief prevailing 20 votes to 19. Sankaran received just two votes.

Voting started on September 12 and closed earlier on Thursday.

The seat was up for grans after Mubashshir Usmani, a rising administrator at the helm of the Emirates Cricket Board, was in July elected to the ICC board – where the power lies and by the end of the year will be headed by India boss Jay Shah.

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It completes a period of change for cricket’s powerbrokers with Mahinda Vallipuram having returned to the ICC board after losing his position in 2022.

Damodar had been 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 and has been a key driver of reviving the Afro-Asia Cup, a marquee event played twice in the 2000s when cricketers from foes India and Pakistan famously teamed up.

As I first reported recently, the Afro-Asia Cup is being ‘looked at’ and hopes were raised by the ascension of Shah – a backer of the concept – and now heightened by Damodar once again rubbing shoulders with cricket’s powerbrokers.

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Damodar in his campaign had also advocated for a continent versus continent competition for Associate nations, played in the T20 format and similar in concept to golf’s Ryder Cup and the Laver Cup in tennis.

Done, who like Damodar fell one vote short of being elected to the CEC last year, is a high-profile administrator having previously had senior roles at the ICC and USA Cricket.

Not widely known, Sankaran loomed as the wildcard but fell well short.

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.

It is believed that 41 of the Associate Members and regional representatives (Americas, Asia, Europe, East Asia-Pacific and Africa) voted and candidates had to be a representative of an Associate Member or a current/past ICC director.

Damodar 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.