Dubai, Nov 17 (IANS): The election of the next chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) could be made after three rounds of voting if neither of the candidates in the running get the required number of votes.

The annual quarterly meeting of the ICC began on Monday soon after the secret ballot voting to pick the next chairman opened. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) head Greg Barclay and ICC's current interim chairman Imran Khwaja are in the contest.

According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, a total of 16 votes will be cast by directors sitting on the ICC Board, including the heads of the 12 Full Members, three directors representing the Associates and independent woman director Indra Nooyi.

Khwaja, who is the current chairman, cannot cast a vote in that position - but can as acting chair of the associate members. Barclay, however, can cast a vote.

The candidate will be declared as the winner if he gets two-thirds of the votes cast.

If neither candidate gets the requisite number of votes - 11 in this case, another round of voting will take place. And if a winner is still not decided, a final round of voting will take place.

If there is no two-thirds majority even after that, then it is believed that Khwaja will be appointed the new chairman for a stipulated period, added the ESPNcricinfo report.

In June, Shashank Manohar had stepped down as ICC chairman and had promised to approve the process for election of chairperson within a week. But it took over three months to begin the process. It is understood through officials that the Covid-19 pandemic has made circumstances difficult, delaying the process.