The Australian
By Malcolm Conn
24 June 2010
JOHN Howard was attempting to salvage his nomination for the International Cricket Council presidency.
Howard will attempt to prevent the game’s administration from sliding into chaos by meeting hostile Zimbabwe Cricket officials in Harare last night.
Howard and Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke secretly flew to Zimbabwe to meet the country’s cricket powerbrokers in the hope of circumventing an insidious backroom campaign which threatens the former prime minister’s ICC nomination.
Should ZC, and its public proxy South Africa gain enough support to oppose Howard the ICC will become deadlocked and the game paralysed just eight months away from its showpiece — the World Cup.
There is “nervousness” among officials in some countries that Howard will not get the necessary votes at the ICC’s annual meeting in Singapore next week.
ZC is opposing Howard for his trenchant criticism of president Robert Mugabe’s brutal regime during 11 years as prime minister, which included refusing the national team permission to tour the country in 2007.
One of the reasons for the trip is to assure ZC officials that, unlike Zimbabwe, there is no direct link between Australia’s government and its leading cricket body.
“Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket, with Mr Howard as their nomination, want to meet with Zimbabwean officials to discuss a range of cricketing issues obviously facing Zimbabwe cricket at the moment and also those which are particular to the upcoming ICC meeting,” a CA spokesman said yesterday.
After initial disagreement, Australia and New Zealand nominated Howard as their candidate for a two-year term as vice-president. He would then become president for a further two years.
On a five-regional rotation system used by the ICC, Howard’s nomination should have been a formality at next week’s ICC annual meeting in Singapore, but Zimbabwe began agitating behind the scenes to oppose the move and was supported by South Africa.
Crucially, all-powerful India is yet to approve the nomination despite incoming ICC president Sharad Pawar, an Indian government minister, offering his support to Howard.
Pawar is not a member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is in danger of becoming a victim of Indian cricket politics.
He is seen to have close links with disgraced former Indian Premier League supremo Lalit Modi, who is being vigorously pursued by the BCCI and sections of the Indian government after bringing down a government minister in a questionable IPL franchise deal. Howard needs seven of the 10 so-called Test playing nations to support him at next week’s ICC annual meeting.
If India opposes him the other Asian countries, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, are likely to vote as a bloc with Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The ZC administration has such close links to Mugabe’s regime that ZC president Peter Chingoka is banned from Australia, the UK and the EU.
The annual meeting, which needs to ratify Howard’s position, is being held in Singapore instead of the traditional location of Lord’s so Chingoka can attend.
If ZC opposes Howard, CA and New Zealand Cricket will look less favourably on last week’s plea by Zimbabwe sports minister David Coltart to resume cricketing ties.
Coltart suggested Howard fly to Zimbabwe for a face-to-face meeting with his detractors while in Melbourne late last week.
“I have spoken to Zimbabwe Cricket about this. They say they have not reached a decision,” said Coltart, who has influence as sports minister but no direct links with ZC.