The International Cricket Council (ICC) today named the three members of its Referees Commission, set up in the wake of the Denness-Sehwag affair - and admitted that the aggrieved president of the Indian board, Jagmohan Dalmiya, had objected to all three. ICC confirmed that Justice AL Sachs of South Africa would chair the Referees Commission with Majid Khan of Pakistan and Andrew Hilditch of Australia completing the three-member panel, which will examine procedures relating to ICC referees and report to the Executive Board.

The setting-up of the commission was part of the agreement between the ICC and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the furore that followed penalties imposed on six Indian players in the Port Elizabeth Test threatened the very foundations of international cricket.

The ICC said that, in accordance with the terms of the agreement with the BCCI, it had consulted the Indian board on the composition of the panel. But consulting is one thing and agreement is another, and members of the BCCI were murmuring in hushed tones that they were unhappy with the three names put forward by the ICC.

The ICC contends that the integrity of the three members of the panel is beyond dispute. Justice Sachs is a member of South Africa's Constitutional Court, the country's highest legal judiciary, and has been a member of the ICC's Code of Conduct Commission since its formation in 1999. Majid Khan, who played 63 Tests and captained Pakistan, has served as an ICC match referee and is a past chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, while Hilditch, a former vice-captain of Australia, is now a national selector and a practising solicitor in Adelaide.

ICC confirmed in its press release today that Dalmiya had objected to each of the names suggested by the ICC and in turn put forward "a number of his own nominees". ICC named two of these as Richie Benaud and Imran Khan; Wisden understands that others were Ian Chappell and Justice Ahmed Ibrahim from Zimbabwe. Benaud and Imran, the ICC says, were approached to join the panel but they declined "for personal and business reasons".

Benaud's name was particularly interesting as he had been emphatic that Sachin Tendulkar had tampered with the ball, a suggestion later denied by Mike Denness.

"This is a commission of quality and integrity," the ICC president, Malcolm Gray, insisted, "and one which combines outstanding cricket pedigree with a high degree of legal and administrative expertise. I am entirely confident that it will fulfil its brief to the satisfaction of all parties."

Dalmiya confirmed his objections in a brief statement to the BBC. "At the moment it's true we are not in agreement with the ICC," he said. "I do not wish to comment further on the matter although I probably will in two or three days."

The panel will meet in February and its findings and recommendations will be considered by the ICC Executive Board at its next meeting in mid-March.

Its brief is to examine:
a if there should be a right of appeal against a decision of a match referee.
b if so, the best way to structure the system so that it is not used to obtain an unfair advantage.
c if there should be an ICC Code of Conduct for referees.
d how consistency can best be achieved in penalties imposed by referees.
e if it should be obligatory for ICC referees to explain their decisions to the media and the public.
f if the ICC referee followed the procedures laid down in the ICC Code of Conduct during last November's second Test between South Africa and India in Port Elizabeth. The Commission will not review the actual disciplinary penalties imposed by the referee.

The findings of the Commission will contribute to the ICC's ongoing restructuring of its referees and umpires panels. Sri Lanka's Ranjan Madugalle was recently appointed to the position of Chief Referee and is currently looking for candidates for the remaining four full-time positions.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd