Dalmiya's mother died in India and he has remained there in mourning, meaning a stand-in chairman will be required for the high-profile gathering, at which the ICC stand on match-fixing will be determined.

New Zealand's representative, Sir John Anderson, said last night that the replacement chairman was likely to be Dalmiya's predecessor in the role, Sir Clyde Walcott.

``It's a bit of a tragedy he cannot be here, but we will try for a video link-up.'' Dalmiya was a vocal supporter of action being taken against match-fixing and bribery and issued a strongly worded statement about getting the ICC executive to deal with the matter when it met in Christchurch.

High moral standards

Sir John said New Zealand's stance on the issue was clear: ``Our board wants the highest moral standards and ethics in the game and will support whatever policy comes out of that.''

He said it was likely the ICC would present a united front on the issue and would establish the structure and processes for dealing with any cricketer found guilty of being involved in betting or bribery. Sir John felt it was unlikely that the present dispute between the Pakistani and Australian boards over Shane Warne and Mark Waugh taking money from a bookmaker for pitch and team details could be legislated against retrospectively.

``The matter was dealt with at the time, fines imposed and the ICC informed. No fresh evidence appears to have come to light to reopen the matter,'' he said.

Sir John likened the proposed ICC deterrents on match-fixing and betting to existing drug policies in sport.