The International Cricket Council asked outgoing chief executive Malcolm Speed [Images] to go on leave on Friday following major differences at the top of the organisation.

"The ICC [Images] President, Mr Ray Mali, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Malcolm Speed, have agreed that Malcolm Speed will be on paid leave from 30 April 2008 until the end of his contract term on 4 July 2008.

"This change of plan is the result of a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between the CEO and a number of Board Members, including the President, over a variety of issues that include Zimbabwe." an ICC statement from its president-elect David Morgan said.

South Africa's David Richardson, the ICC general manager for cricket, will hold the post until his compatriot Haroon Lorgat takes over the job at the ICC annual conference in early July.

Asking Australian Speed to go ahead of schedule is the latest crisis to hit the organisation, indicating serious divisions among its member boards.

The affairs of the troubled Zimbabwe board has been one of them. The national team has been out of Test cricket since January 2006 after the side were depleted in the wake of a series of confrontations between players and the administration.

Last month, an independent audit found serious financial irregularities in the Zimbabwe board accounts but the ICC did not call for any sanctions.

The ICC's board decided there was no evidence of criminality and no individuals had gained financially.

A media report on Friday suggested the ICC's annual conference in late June, traditionally held at Lord's, London [Images], could be moved to its headquarters in Dubai due to visa problems for Zimbabwe board chief Peter Chingoka.

An ICC spokesman told Reuters no official decision had been made on shifting the venue.

The ICC top brass have also been divided over other issues, including the controversy over Australian umpire Darrell Hair, who was sacked as an elite panel umpire in November 2006 but reinstated last month.