The Herald Sun
By Ben Dorries
24 June 2010
AUSTRALIA last night denied it had brokered a deal to support Zimbabwe’s comeback to Test cricket as a sweetener for the troubled nation not blocking former prime minister John Howard’s rise to cricket’s top job.
Howard and Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke were bunkered down with Zimbabwean cricket officials in Harare yesterday, preparing for a key International Cricket Council meeting in Singapore next week, at which delegates will vote on Howard’s nomination for the ICC presidency.
The position is rotated among five cricketing regions every two years and usually is rubber-stamped, but Howard’s nomination has been dogged by controversy.
Zimbabwe, apparently angry at his stand against the Robert Mugabe regime during Howard’s 11-year prime ministership, had threatened to block the nomination. Sri Lanka and South Africa also made it known they did not want Howard in the job.
However, last week’s visit to Australia by Zimbabwe Sports Minister Senator David Coltart, who met Cricket Australia officials in Melbourne, might have smoothed the way.
Zimbabwe is lobbying to return to Test cricket by May after voluntarily dropping out four years ago, but CA officials insist that it is not linked to the Howard issue.
“There has been a lot of speculation around but these are issues that need to be considered separately,” a CA spokesman said last night.
“We have talked with Senator Coltart about a lot of things and it makes sense we engage other countries. ”
While a tit-for-tat deal over the Howard issue might not have been struck formally, Zimbabwe has asked Australia to send an A-team or youth team to play four-day matches next year.
“One cannot exactly ask for Australia’s help if we are going to frustrate their clear intent,” Coltart said.
Howard needs seven of the 10 Test-playing nations to support him. India has not yet committed.