New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS): The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said the process for the election of its next chairperson has begun and is expected to be concluded by early December.

"The process, which is being overseen by the independent chairman of the ICC Audit Committee, has commenced and the first stage is for the nominations of potential candidates to be made by current Board Directors by October 18, 2020. Any nominee will then need to be seconded by another Board Director to become a candidate in the election," said the ICC in a statement.

"As outlined in the ICC Constitution, to be eligible, potential candidates must be either a current or former ICC Director," it said.

The post of chairperson fell vacant in July this year after Shashank Manohar stepped down following two two-year term.

Imran Khwaja of Singapore is the interim ICC chairperson. The 64-year-old Khwaja, a barrister-at-law, has been a part of a number of ICC committees, including Finance & Commercial Affairs, and is a former president of Singapore Cricket Association.

It has been speculated that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and former English and Wales Cricket Board Colin Graves could contenders.