Date:08/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/08/stories/2006070805431800.htm

Sport

Sonn is new ICC chief

LONDON: Percy Sonn of South Africa replaced Ehsan Mani as ICC president on Friday.

The 56-year-old lawyer is the sixth man to fill the most senior role at cricket's world governing body, and the first from Africa. He will be president for a minimum of two years and a maximum of three.

One of Sonn's first jobs will be to visit Zimbabwe, where the sport and its administration are in turmoil. Players have left the team and Zimbabwe hasn't played Test cricket since January.

``What I want is some degree of understanding of the issues that surround the administration of cricket within Zimbabwe,'' Sonn said. Sonn never played at international level, but has been a leading cricket administrator in South Africa. He played a crucial role when South Africa returned to world cricket after the fall of apartheid in 1991.

He was president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa for three years until 2003. Sonn also worked as a public prosecutor and a legal adviser to the South African Police Service.He is currently the chief executive officer of a forensic investigation company. — AP