ICC chief Percy Sonn passes away

Cape Town, May 27 (UNI) International Cricket Council (ICC) President Percy Sonn died here today aged 57 following a protracted illness.

Mr Sonn was admitted to a local hospital on May 14 for a routine bowel surgery and later shifted to the intensive care unit on May 22 after he developed complications.

A former president of the South African cricket board, Sonn took over as ICC president from Ehsan Mani of Pakistan in June 2006.

His tenure, which started at June 2006 was originally supposed to end in 2008, but extended till 2009 after the Executive Board of ICC had a split vote between BCCI chief Sharad Pawar and ECB head David Morgan last year.

''As a cricket administrator and a man, Percy Sonn was a giant.

It is a tragedy that he was only able to fill the role of ICC President for one year. I have lost a great personal friend and my thoughts are with his family,'' Sonn's predecessor Mani said on the news of his sudden demise.

Born in Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, Sonn was a lawyer by profession and served as the deputy national director of public prosecutions before moving into cricket administration.

He worked as an effective force during the ICC's strife to solve the internal crisis in Kenyan cricket.

Sonn was survived by his wife, Sandra, and three children -- a daughter and two sons -- apart from his mother, six brothers and a sister.

UNI