The new ICC president, Sharad Pawar, has dismissed suggestions that political factors might have tilted the scales against the former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, especially since his nomination for the ICC vice-president was not put to vote.
Mr. Pawar said: “Any proposal, before it comes up for vote, has to be supported by a majority of the members. Unfortunately, we could not see enough members supporting that proposal [on Howard's nomination].” So, in such situations, “instead of going to the voting, we discuss with representatives.”
In this case, the issue was discussed with “our colleagues from both the countries [Australia and New Zealand],” he said. “And, we decided to send this proposal back for reconsideration.”
“Collective decision”
PTI reports:
Asked whether the rejection would divide cricket, Mr. Pawar said: “I don't think so. We have discussed the matter individually and collectively with everybody, including Australia, England and New Zealand. We took a collective decision.”
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Mr. Howard would make a “fantastic” ICC president. “I know John well; I met him on numerous occasions when I was leader of the Opposition and as Prime Minister. I think he's been a tremendous leader of Australia. He's a great administrator and he loves cricket... even if he can't bowl very well from what I've seen on TV.”
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan has also backed Mr. Howard.
Zimbabwe Cricket chief Peter Chingoka said Mr. Howard was not experienced enough to handle the job.
He also refuted suggestions that Mr. Howard's nomination was rejected because of his past criticism of the Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.
Twin responsibility
Mr. Pawar, 69, will have to shoulder the twin responsibility of being a Cabinet Minister and ICC president, but he said he would be able to handle them with a little help from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Fortunately, the ICC headquarters is in Dubai, and Dubai works on Saturday and Sunday. It's a matter of two-hour flight. So, I think there won't be any difficulty. Secondly, I will discuss my responsibilities with the Prime Minister and take an appropriate decision so that my government work is not affected.”
“I may ask for more hands. I had asked for three Ministers, but they have given only one. If I request to reduce some of my workload, we may find some solution. I won't allow my government work to suffer,” he said.
Asked what he considers the biggest challenge of his new job, Mr. Pawar said: “We have to preserve all the formats of the game. Today, we have 105 countries as ICC members. But unless we expand the game to China, the U.S. and some parts of Eastern Europe and Africa, the game will not reach every corner of the world.”
Correction
The fifth paragraph of the above report quoted New Zealand Prime Minister John Key as saying that Mr. Howard would make a “ fantastic” ICC president . The comment was made in the context of Mr. Howard's attempt at becoming ICC Vice-President which would automatically make him ICC President after two years.
