Bridgetown (Barbados), June 27 (IANS): The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameron has hailed the appointment of new International Cricket Council (ICC) president Zaheer Abbas, labelling the former Pakistan captain "one of the true greats of the game".

Zaheer, 67, was installed on Wednesday during the ICC Annual Conference which is being held here in the Caribbean for the first time, CMC reported on Friday.

"On behalf of the WICB and cricket lovers of the West Indies I want to congratulate Zaheer on his elevation to the post of President of the ICC," Cameron said.

“He is one of the true greats of the game. He played his part on the field with some masterful performances and now we believe he will fit in perfectly as one of the key leadership positions in world cricket.

"Zaheer has worked at many levels in the development of the game and this new post is recognition of his hard work, contribution and dedicated service to the game of cricket around the world."

Zaheer scored 5,062 runs in 78 Test matches and also made over 100 first-class centuries. He began his one-year term on Wednesday.

He replaces Bangladeshi Mustafa Kamal who resigned in controversially circumstances following the Cricket World Cup last April.