Pawar takes over as ICC President amidst controversy

Singapore, July 1 (PTI) Sharad Pawar Thursday took over
as the ICC President in the midst of a raging controversy over
former Australian Premier John Howard's rejection as Vice
President, which prompted former chief executive Malcom Speed
to question the Indian minister's credentials as a cricket
administrator.
Pawar's rise to the coveted post came on a day when
Australian and New Zealand officials reacted angrily to
Howard's rejection by the Afro-Asian bloc, raising speculation
of a divided house within the International Cricket Council.
Speed said if Howard was not good enough then Pawar was
hardly an ideal candidate to lead the game's governing body.
"The man who is to be the next ICC president, Sharad
Pawar, is the Minister for Agriculture in the Indian
government - a serious full-time job, feeding 1.2 billion
people.
"He is a good and fair man but he will be working
part-time as ICC president and, take it from me, he knows
little about cricket administration," Speed said.
Pawar, however, sought to downplay the snub to Howard
saying there was no political connotation to the issue.
Addressing his first press conference as the President,
Pawar said the move had nothing to do with politics and
Howard's policies on Africa, in particular towards Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe.
"What is the political connotation? There is no question
of political connotation," the 69-year-old Pawar, second
Indian after Jagmohan Dalmiya to occupy the top post, said.
ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, who was also present
at the press conference, said that the game's governing body
was not obliged to explain why Howard's bid failed.
"The ICC does not have give those reasons. There weren't
sufficient number of directors in support of the nomination,
(it) did not go to a vote and the outcome was to request
Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket to reconsider their
nomination," Lorgat said.
Lorgat refused to be drawn into a debate on how the ICC
would react if Cricket Australia and Cricket New Zealand
re-nominated Howard.
"I think that's speculative and we must wait for 31st
August and see what comes forward," he said.
If Howard's nomination had gone through, he would have
become ICC vice-president for two years and then take the top
post from Pawar in 2012.
The Asian and African nations united to reject his
nomination as Howard failed to get the required seven votes.
Only England, Australia and New Zealand supported his
candidature thus forcing ICC to withdraw his nomination. More
PTI MRM
KAB


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