In a statement, the ICC said it had begun the election process, which is expected to have concluded by early December.

The election was triggered after Shashank Manohar formally stood down in July.

The process to choose Manohar's replacement has been hit by delays after the ICC opened a confidentiality investigation following the leak of a letter regarding a proposal to postpone this year's T20 World Cup to the media.

Critics have claimed interim chair Imran Khwaja was deliberately stalling the process to ensure he remained in the role.

The ICC has not confirmed how the chairman will be elected if there is a contested vote.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, a simple majority of the 17 ICC Board members will be required, but others have suggested a two-thirds majority is needed for victory.

Ex-England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves is widely tipped to stand for ICC chairman, while other candidates that have been mooted include Pakistan's Ehsan Mani and former Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly.

Mani, President of the ICC from 2003 to 2006, claimed last month the new chairman should not come from one of the "big three" cricketing nations of Australia, India and England.

"The process, which is being overseen by the independent chairman of the ICC Audit Committee, has commenced and the first stage is for the nominations of potential candidates to be made by current Board Directors by 18 October 2020," the ICC said in a statement.

"Any nominee will then need to be seconded by another Board Director to become a candidate in the election."