He has served for 17 years as Australia’s Prime Minister, in good times and bad. But John Howard will have to fight for every inch as he seeks to become the International Cricket Council (ICC) vice president. The election is set for June 30.
Seven out of the 10 cricketing countries – full members of the ICC – have refused to endorse Howard because of his lack of cricketing experience and his views on racism. The vice president of ICC takes over as president at the end of a two-year term. The ICC is currently having its annual conference at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore.
A member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), speaking to Business Standard from London, said there was hectic diplomacy and behind-the-scene activity all of Sunday to persuade boards of the African cricketing nations – South Africa, Kenya, West Indies and Zimbabwe – to review their stand that Howard was not the right choice as the next ICC chief. He said the racial overhang was “so strong, you could cut it with a knife”.
South Africa and Zimbabwe are bitterly opposed to Howard’s candidature. It was during Howard’s tenure that Australia led the demand for sanctions on Zimbabwe for its policies against white land owners.
“He is a wolf in sheepskin, with the sole aim of returning the sport (cricket) to the dark ages where it was a preserve of the Anglo-Saxon countries and using it to settle political scores. He has nothing to offer to sport, which spreads a message of unity, against his racist thoughts.Wasn’t he the same person who went out of his way to block his country’s cricketers from touring Zimbabwe in 2007 saying that the country was not safe?” wrote The Herald, owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
It reminded readers that Australia under Howard offered to pay a $2-million fine to ICC, to make sure the tour was cancelled.
Cricket Australia has told Zimbabwe, if it did not support Howard’s bid, they would not get a chance to host the bilateral A-series next year that would help the African nation re-enter top-level Test cricket.
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The BCCI too is opposed to Howard’s elevation, not so on the grounds that Howard has been described as a ‘cricketing tragic’ but also because they can sense the mood.
India has persuaded Sri Lanka to join the opposition to Howard – if the island country needed to be persuaded. Howard shot himself in the foot in 2004 when he described Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (who is considered by Wisden as the ‘best bowler ever’ and is the highest wicket taker in ODIs and Test cricket) as a ‘chucker’.
At a press conference in 2004, Howard answered “yes” when asked if the Sri Lankan chucked the ball. “They proved it in Perth too, with that thing,” he added, miming a video screen with his hands at an interraction in New South Wales.
Not just Muralitharan, but all Sri Lanka was outraged, provoking angry editorials in all newspapers and prompting Muralitharan to cancel his plans to tour Australia that year. Unlike other South Asian countries, in Sri Lanka, the Sports Minister has veto power over decisions taken by the Cricket Control Board but is unlikely to exercise them this time, given the emotions involved.
Sharad Pawar who has just taken over as the ICC President, is keen to get the Australian elected, for reasons of vanity. “He says it will be an honour for India to get a Prime Minister of Australia to work under him,” a BCCI source said.
However, BCCI President Shashank Manohar is opposed to Howard’s appointment and the BCCI working committee has already taken a decision that India will not support Howard’s nomination.
Underlying the decision is Australia’s unpopularity in the subcontinent and Pakistani newspaper reports that the Pakistan Cricket Board has “sought the advice of the government on the matter and contacted the office of President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also a patron of the board. Effectively, the board will go by the advice they receive”. Bangladesh generally goes by Pakistan’s advice.
The Australian and New Zealand Cricket Boards, which have jointly filed Howard’s nomination, and England, which is backing it, are equally clear that they will not back out.
“We followed the ICC process exactly as required and believe it is not unreasonable that the nominee resulting from that process be supported,” Peter Young, the general manager (public affairs), CA, was quoted as saying.
“We can only repeat that Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket are firmly committed to the nomination we have made. We are rock-solid behind that nomination.”
Why is Howard so keen on the nomination? Apparently it is at the behest of a former CEO of British Airways and one of Australia’s leading businessmen that Howard’s name got currency. Former Labour prime minister Kevin Rudd’s chief infrastructure adviser, businessman Rod Eddington strongly lobbied for Howard’s nomination, presumably espying a business opportunity in world cricket.