Pawar is ICC president, world cricket divided over Howard’s rejection (Roundup)

SINGAPORE/MELBOURNE - Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Thursday took over the reins of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on a day when the game’s governing body stood divided in two blocks following the rejection of former Australian prime minister John Howard’s nomination for the vice president’s post. Pawar, however, attempted to downplay the brouhaha.

Cricket Australia (CA) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC), which floated Howard’s nomination, were left seething in anger as the strong African and Asian block, including the Indian cricket board, opposed Howard’s candidature at the ICC executive board meeting Wednesday. Only England, Australia and New Zealand supported Howard, thus forcing the ICC to ask CA and NZC to withdraw his nomination.

Howard was adamant, saying he was not withdrawing his nomination. “I won’t be withdrawing,” the Australian media quoted Howard as saying Thursday.

Pawar, 69, who took over as ICC president from David Morgan Thursday, had openly backed Howard for the job but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) backtracked, rejecting Howard’s candidature.

No reason was provided for the rejection of Howard’s nomination, though it is understood that his opposition to Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe and his outspoken views on Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s controversial bowling action were some of the reasons behind his rejection.

Pawar, 69, who became the second Indian after Jagmohan Dalmiya to occupy the top ICC post, sought to downplay the issue.

“What is the political connotation? There is no question of political connotation,” Pawar said at a press conference in Singapore.

“No, I don’t think so at all (that there will be a divide). We have discussed the matter individually and collectively with everybody including Australia, England and New Zealand also. We took a collective decision,” Pawar told Indian news channel CNN-IBN in an interview.

“I’m not worried because it’s a democratic organisation. According to the ICC constitution if any four members oppose a proposal, it cannot be passed. That’s why we have requested Australia and New Zealand to give a second thought and come out with a new proposal,” he added.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said the Council is not obliged to spell out the reason for Howard’s failed nomination.

“The ICC does not have give those reasons. There were not sufficient number of directors in support of the nomination, (it) did not go to a vote and the outcome was to request Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket to reconsider their nomination,” Lorgat said.

The ICC has asked Australia and New Zealand to nominate a new candidate by the end of August.

“We (will) wait for their recommendation,” Pawar said.

Had Howard been elected, he would have succeeded Pawar as ICC president in 2012.

Not mincing words, CA chairman Jack Clarke said he felt “gutted and deeply disappointed”.

“If you keep having processes that don’t work, or are not allowed to work, I am not too sure where they go from there. John wasn’t putting his hand up for this job, he was asked by us,” added Clarke.

“You hope it doesn’t affect the relationship but it obviously puts a block there for a while and makes you wary.”

Although Clarke did not blame India for Howard’s rejection, he reasoned the country’s financial clout in the ICC had guided the outcome.

“In any business model where a company has 75 per cent of the income, it’s not an ideal model,” he said. “But that is not India’s fault … it’s a powerful bloc but it’s a reality of life,” Fox Sports quoted Clarke as saying.

New Zealand Cricket chairman Alan Isaac found the rejection of Howard’s nomination unacceptable. “We have been unable to get a reason for the lack of support for our nomination and it’s just not acceptable,” Isaac said.

Pawar’s overwhelming support in BCCI has waned after his support of Lalit Modi during the Indian Premier League controversy, and with the latest row over Howard, the veteran politican will have much in hand during his tenure.

Should CA and NZC decide to admit defeat on Howard, it is likely that former NZC and ICC administrator John Anderson would be sought again, having lost out to the former Australian prime minister in a selection process that was hotly-debated by the two countries.

Former ICC CEO Malcolm Speed said Howard was rejected because of his opposition to Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe.

“Rest assured, he (Howard) was not rejected because of his lack of experience as a cricket administrator, his strong opposition to Robert Mugabe’s disastrous regime in Zimbabwe or his outspoken views about Muttiah Muralitharan’s controversial bowling action. There is more to it than that,” Speed said in his column in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Speed also alleged Pawar knows little about cricket administration.

“The man who is to be the next ICC president, Sharad Pawar, is the Minister for Agriculture in the Indian government - a serious full-time job, feeding 1.2 billion people. He is a good and fair man but he will be working part-time as ICC president and, take it from me, he knows little about cricket administration,” Speed said.