There are not a lot of people inside cricket, let alone outside, who know very much about Ehsan Mani. He is, by his own admission, one of the quiet men of the world game but, at such a difficult time for international cricket, his present move into the spotlight may prove to be most opportune.

A chartered accountant by profession, the 57-year-old has lived chiefly in London since coming to the UK to study in 1965. He also has a home in his native Pakistan and makes at least half a dozen visits there every year, including a long summer break. Having worked in commerce for many years, he now sits on the boards of two banks. Since 1989 he has been closely involved with the International Cricket Council, latterly as chairman of the finance and marketing committee.

He is a man of the East and of the West and, happily, is now preparing to bring all that business and administrative experience to bear on one of the top jobs in world cricket. Appointed vice-president of the ICC three months ago, he will take over from current president Malcolm Gray in June and serve for two years. Politically, his appointment looks like being beautifully timed.

He not only provides an obvious link between the ICC hierarchy and an Asian bloc which has always been wary of the growth of power at the central administration, but his personal championing of Pakistan cricket will help to focus attention on how soon international competition can be restored to that country.

"The fallout from the events of September 11 last year has had a huge impact on Pakistan," said Mani. "There has been a price to pay, but the whole country is supporting the government's radical and brave stance against terrorism and it may take another year before the situation is seen to have improved.

"The decisions by Australia and West Indies not to tour Pakistan during this past year have done enormous short-term damage to Pakistan cricket, even though the use of neutral venues has enabled some revenue to be generated. The political tensions between India and Pakistan have also not helped, and the Pakistan Cricket Board estimates that it has already lost US$25 million. But there is a huge amount of goodwill towards Pakistan cricket, including from the Indian cricket board, and some countries are looking to help by including the Pakistan team in extra one-day events in particular.

"I think it is particularly important for cricket worldwide that Pakistan are able to go, as they wish, to Zimbabwe for their tour in November. Zimbabwe is another country suffering from its political situation at the moment, but Pakistan know how they feel in this regard and want to tour there; subject, of course, to Zimbabwe government guarantees over player safety. It is also important for world cricket that Zimbabwe are able to stage their scheduled home games in the World Cup early next year, and this upcoming Pakistan tour will hopefully go some way to ensuring that."

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka A have decided to tour Pakistan and Mani feels that the other Asian countries are already relaxed about the prospect of travelling there again. He says, having spent several weeks in northern Pakistan in the summer, that everyday life is unaffected by the political tensions in the Afghanistan and Kashmir border areas. While the ICC wrestles with the problem of keeping its crowded Test Championship programme operational, Mani is keen to maintain the vision of a governing body managed effectively by all its member countries.

"Malcolm Gray and Malcolm Speed, the chief executive, deserve enormous credit for the way they have provided the leadership behind tremendous changes to the way the ICC is structured and governed," he said. "Communication, however, remains a problem within world cricket. Politics is no longer the problem. We once had countries sticking together in block votes, but we have moved on from that in recent times. It is important, though, to recognise that the ICC is a hugely multi-cultural organisation, and communication within it is an area in which I believe I can make a big contribution.

"The ICC is now very professional and run along modern business lines, but I suspect that we are running ahead of ourselves a little. Some of our member boards are not yet as professional in the way they do things, and the recent crisis which surrounded player contracts for the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka is a typical example of this. It was caused by the lack of attention to detail by some of the member boards." Many international players threatened to boycott the tournament because of a contractual stipulation that they could not endorse products which rivalled those of tournament sponsors.

Mani says he will continue to speak regularly with Gray during the remainder of his vice-presidency, whose intimate knowledge of the way the ICC has evolved is as important, says Mani, as his own commercial and administrative understanding of what is now a rapidly expanding modern organisation. "When I first became involved with the ICC, initially as a representative of the PCB, it was run by the MCC secretariat and the annual operating budget was £100,000. Now, its operating costs are US$8 per annum.

"Having been involved with the ICC for so long in many different areas, however, I do understand how it works and I realise the politics that are still involved. I shall be observing the coming months with great interest and doing my best to support the management. Being appointed as president-elect was not something I expected, but it is a huge privilege to be able to serve the game at this level. What pleased me most was that my appointment was by a unanimous vote and that I was proposed by England and seconded by Zimbabwe. I think the process behind my appointment showed that the member countries are acting with a great deal of maturity, and that there is not the same kind of parochial approach which tended to shape the past.

"I have a massive commitment both to Pakistan cricket and to Asian cricket in general. Asia clearly has a big part to play as it constitutes 40 per cent of the Test membership, but I want to see strong member boards right around the globe too. We need a strong African presence in cricket in the future, and a powerful presence in North America. The ICC must not just dictate to the member countries, but also win respect and trust. It must be even more prepared to be open in its governance and that is something which I very much believe in."

Mani has already had a hand in many of the changes that have revolutionised the structure and role of the ICC. He worked closely with Lord Cowdrey when the ICC evolved into an independent organisation, and it was he who first proposed the rotation policy for the presidency as a result of the divisive contest for it that took place between Jagmohan Dalmiya and Gray in 1996. He also did much of the spadework that lay behind the eventual scrapping of the veto previously enjoyed by England and Australia, and served on the ICC's finance and marketing committee from 1996 until it was replaced this year by the ICC's new in-house expertise.

Not the least of his achievements behind the scenes was the part he played in July 2000 when the ICC secured the seven-year contract worth US$550m with the Global Cricket Corporation. Although the terms of this deal have come under the spotlight in the players contracts dispute preceding the Champions Trophy, that sum of money generated by the sale of commercial and television rights, is the financial bedrock behind the ICC's stewardship of the game: $188m is expected to be generated by the next World Cup in South Africa, and a further $235m is estimated for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. From June, Mani will be in a key position to oversee how this money is spent.

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