Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket, the hosts of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, recently announced the appointment of Ralph Waters as chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the tournament.

Waters, who was previously deputy chairman, was appointed following the sad loss of the inaugural chairman, James Strong, who passed away last week.

the past decade, Waters has been one of New Zealand’s most prominent businessmen and is well-placed to lead the Board of this major Trans-Tasman venture. He is chairman of Fletcher Building Limited and Woolworths Limited and director of Fonterra Co-Operative Limited and Asciano Limited.

Waters paid tribute to the leadership of Strong, saying “like myself, James had lived and worked in Australia and New Zealand and was determined to put on a truly world class tournament in 2015”.

“I share his vision and will work closely with the ICC, Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket to deliver a successful tournament for cricket fans around the world,” he added.

Alan Isaac, president of ICC said James’ “passion and expertise will be missed by all of us”. “I know Ralph shares the same love for the game and together we will deliver a great tournament,” said Isaac.

Wally Edwards (chairman, Cricket Australia), Chris Moller (chairman, New Zealand Cricket),James Sutherland (CEO, Cricket Australia) and David White (CEO, New Zealand Cricket) will continue to sit on the Board of the Local Organising Committee with the ICC sending representatives to each meeting as observers.