The Australian
26 June 2010
By Malcolm Conn
JOHN Howard still does not have the numbers to become president-elect of the International Cricket Council just days before its meeting.
As increasingly frantic and embarrassed officials step up backroom diplomatic efforts to try to avoid a major meltdown, serious concerns remain that the former prime minister’s nomination will be rejected.
Should this happen the ICC will become deadlocked and its administrative process will collapse, further savaging cricket’s already damaged credibility.
Overseas officials privately claim that as of last night Australia had just five of the 10 so-called Test-playing nations on-side. A minimum of seven is needed to confirm Howard as vice-president for two years then president for a further two years.
Cricket Australia was unavailable for comment last night.
There is a suggestion the Asian bloc is splitting, with Pakistan and Bangladesh willing to join Australia, New Zealand and England in supporting Howard.
Worryingly, India is yet to declare a position, despite incoming ICC president Sharad Pawar, an Indian government minister who is not on the BCCI, supporting the “process” of the ICC’s regional rotation system. It was Australia and New Zealand’s turn and they eventually nominated Howard.
Sri Lanka is waiting for India’s lead but has a long-standing animosity towards Howard after he publicly endorsed the widely held view in Australia that spinner Muttiah Muralidaran, Test and one-day cricket’s leading wicket-taker, was a “chucker.”
Outgoing ICC president David Morgan of England has been concentrating his efforts on persuading all-powerful India to back Howard’s nomination.
Officials believe Morgan is making progress. He did not return calls from The Australian.
There is also doubt about how much was achieved by the dash Howard and Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke made to Harare earlier this week to meet Zimbabwe Cricket officials.
Zimbabwe sports minister David Coltart facilitated Howard’s visit to Zimbabwe after ZC officials claimed they did not have the chance of discussing the issues with Howard face to face.
ZC president Peter Chingoka is banned from travelling to Australia, the UK and EU because of his close links to the brutal regime of Robert Mugabe regime.
Coltart introduced Howard to the ZC officials on his arrival in Harare but was not part of the meeting.
“Generally it has been welcomed,” Coltart said. “In the Zimbabwean context it received favourable press coverage.”
One state-controlled newspaper wrote an editorial ridiculing Howard.
“I view that editorially very positively because although it takes the line of (Mugabe’s) Zanu PF it concludes with the statement: ‘Zimbabwe holds no grudges and we urge Zimbabwe Cricket to give him all the support he needs if he is the man for the job.’ That’s quite remarkable,” Coltart said.
“It is such a fragile political process in this country. Everything is tentative. We must await Singapore. The visit went as well as could be expected.”
While ZC officials continue to tell Coltart that ZC is not leading the anti-Howard push, officials in South Africa have privately confirmed Chingoka is leading the charge. ZC officials resent Howard’s strong opposition to Zimbabwe during his 11 years as prime minister and Cricket SA is supporting ZC on political grounds.