Cricket news - Jack Clarke Disappointed By Howard Snub
The international cricket community is heading towards a crisis of all sorts as the candidature of former Australian president John Howard has been rejected since some of the leading members of the International Cricket Conference ICC, have rejected his nomination for vice-president of the body.
Howard, who is an avid cricket fan, had expressed willingness and was backed by Australia and New Zealand, yet faced staunch opposition from countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe which forced the ICC to withdraw him from the race.
Howard had to serve as vice-president for at least two years, before running for the president’s slot of the esteemed cricket body.
The ICC board members are meeting in Singapore and Jack Clarke chairman of Cricket Australia expressed his disappointment at Howard’s rejection, he added that the ICC has now asked them to name another candidate, yet it was a tedious process.
Clarke added that, likewise the chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Board Alan Isaac will have to consult the members of his Board and consult with CA to nominate a joint candidate before the next ICC meeting scheduled for October.
A visibly stressed out Clarke added that the Australian and New Zealand Boards failed to understand why Howard was rejected as he was a very prominent man in the region, and had come through the system.
He revealed that the two cricket powers of the region felt that Howard’s election would be a mere formality and that the rest of the Board members would have no objections to their candidate.
Clarke hinted that the ICC needs to re-think the election process, which has led to the snub of a pre-eminent candidate.
The gravity of their concerns can be gauged by another statement from Clarke, which indicated that there was perhaps a major rift amongst some of the members of the cricket body, which indicated that Cricket Australia and the New Zealand body was not given any reasons for the snub of Howard.
Clarke repeated that the whole process has caused him great anguish and disappointment and despite thinking over it again and again he fails to understand why there was a rift on the nomination of an esteemed candidate.
Meanwhile Clarke brushed aside the claims that the ICC plans to move its current base from Dubai to the Indian city of Mumbai.
He added that there was hardly a chance of such a move, yet the ICC is thinking of re-locating to its former headquarters London, even though that is only a thought and no concrete plan is in place at the moment.
According to Clarke the ICC was keen on keeping Dubai as their headquarters for the time being, and he feels that the United Arab Emirates city will stay the base for considerable time.
On the other hand the ICC will be hoping to resolve the grievances of Australia and New Zealand as soon as possible, as it vows to strengthen the relationship between its’ board members.
Over the years there has been a divide between the Asian block and the rest of the world, with four Asian test playing nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh unifying for major decisions.
However the strained relations between India and Pakistan have weakened the block, and the current regime of Pakistan Cricket Board, is also going through troubled phase with the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Amid the divide, the ICC cannot afford further disharmony amongst its major powers. At a time when it has many pressing issues to deal with including the growing popularity of 20 overs cricket and the sharp decline in interest in the 50 overs format.
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