MUMBAI: The chairman of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Local Organising Committee, James Strong, announced appointment of John Harnden as CEO of the Local Organising Committee for the event.

The 2015 Cricket World Cup will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Harnden is currently South Australian Cricket Association CEO. He was formerly Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games CEO, Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO and Village Roadshow International Theme Parks CEO.

Strong said that Harnden had built a reputation over many years for delivering large scale international events and projects on time, on budget and to world?s best standard. "Coupled with his current role in cricket administration, this made John the perfect candidate for the job of chief executive. John is known and admired around the world for his strategic thinking, the personal commitment he brings to every task, his ability to build and lead outstanding teams and his willingness to work collaboratively with everyone involved in a project," Strong said.

Harnden said he was looking forward to starting work on the tournament. "Cricket is a passion for me from a personal and a professional perspective. I am delighted to be a part of the 2015 Cricket World Cup and look forward to working with James Strong and the rest of the Board as well as everyone at New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Australia. We will make this a real partnership across the Tasman," he said.