Sir Ronnie Flanagan, chair of the ICC anti-corruption unit, is slated to retire in October

Since 2010, Sir Ronnie Flanagan has presided over the ICC’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) independently. He has made the decision to step down at the end of October. This news follows Alex Marshall, the head of ACU, announcing his retirement in November.

Flanagan, a highly esteemed senior police officer, served as the chief constable of the Northern Ireland police department before taking on the role of chief inspector of constabulary for the Home Office for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. He had taken over for Lord Paul Condon, who had led ACU for ten years before resigning in 2010.

After being appointed by the ICC in 2000, Condon was the one who initially established the ACU. His main responsibility was to address the increasing number of match-fixing incidents that were occurring at the time, which led to the life bans of three international captains: Saleem Malik, the late Hansie Cronje, and Muhammad Azharuddin. He also set up safeguards to ensure that the sport could fend off corrupt elements.

Condon had cautioned that T20 cricket, particularly domestic franchise cricket, “represented the biggest challenge to the integrity of cricket” when he was about to leave the game. The 2013 IPL corruption scandal broke just in time. Speaking at the ICC annual conference in June of that year, Flanagan advised the leaders of all cricket boards to enact stricter anti-corruption legislation so that players, referees, and franchise owners found guilty of corrupt activities in local Twenty20 tournaments might face legal consequences and prevent a recurrence.

Also Read: Threats of corruption from “badly run T20 leagues” are warned by ICC Anti-Corruption Chief Alex Marshall

The ICC stated in a press release on Monday that they hope to present their “recommendation” for the future chair of the ACU by the October quarterly round of meetings.