World watching, split on the cards

Former Australia PM John Howard's transition from politics to cricket might lead to a split in world cricket.

Former Australia PM John Howard's transition from politics to cricket might lead to a split in world cricket.

Howard was nominated as the joint candidate from Australia and New Zealand for the post of ICC president-designate. The voting (by 10 major cricketing countries, with a win needing seven votes) is normally a formality, but not in Howard's case, reportedly thanks to opposition from South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was learnt that Howard’s comments about the political regime in Zimbabwe during his stint as Australian PM made both the African boards unhappy. The West Indies may join hands with the opposition for the same reason.

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Bangladesh's board is expected to back Howard because of a reported directive from their government. No wonder then that the BCCI's vote will be decisive. "If the BCCI has to choose between SA and Australia, in this case, they will go with the former," a BCCI source said. Unless of course, there is some kind of political pressure.