The appointment by the International Cricket Council follows a period in which the sport has had to deal with the effects of terrorist attacks in India and Pakistan and counter the threat of match fixing and betting scandals.

Flanagan, who had senior police roles with the Home Office and in Northern Ireland, succeeds a former London police chief, Paul Condon, who has had the position for 10 years and who will leave at the end of June.

The ICC made the announcement during the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.