Jay Shah, the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and Sourav Ganguly, the former BCCI President, have joined Marylebone Cricket Club's newly-formed World Cricket Connects Advisory Board.

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith and England skipper Andrew Strauss, as well as England women's captain Heather Knight are among the other founding members of the new advisory board, which replaces the world cricket committee that was formed in 2006 and met for the final time last summer.

Shah missed the inaugural World Cricket Connects forum last year at Lord's, but the ICC Chair is among 13 founding members of the new World Cricket Connects advisory board, which will be chaired by former MCC president Kumar Sangakkara.

The second World Cricket Connects forum will be staged before Lord's hosts the World Test Championship 2025 final between South Africa and Australia on June 11.

MCC announced on Thursday (January 23) that the new advisory board will meet virtually across the year in the planning the game, and in person immediately after the annual event, apart from working closely with MCC Chairman Mark Nicholas.

"As the Club evolves the World Cricket Connects concept, the aim is for it to become the leading symposium in the game, facilitating the debate of strategic issues in an independent forum and establishing a consensus on paths to ensure cricket's future success," the MCC said.

"To achieve this objective, MCC has revealed today that a new World Cricket Connects Advisory Board (Connects Board) has been formed. This independent group will shape the annual World Cricket Connects agenda, help facilitate the event's discussions, and in turn, maximise the opportunity for genuine impact on the health of the game."

World Cricket Connects advisory board members

• Kumar Sangakkara (chair)
• Anurag Dahiya (ICC chief commercial officer)
• Chris Dehring (CWI CEO)
• Sourav Ganguly
• Sanjog Gupta (JioStar CEO - Sports)
• Mel Jones
• Heather Knight
• Trudy Lindblade (Cricket Scotland CEO)
• Heath Mills (World Cricketers' Association chair)
• Imtiaz Patel (Former SuperSport chair)
• Jay Shah
• Graeme Smith
• Andrew Strauss