Cricket Australia “incredibly disappointed” by Howard rejection

Cricket Australia has said it is “incredibly disappointed” by the International Cricket Board’s (ICC) decision to reject the nomination of John Howard to become President and that it may affect its relationship with the Board.

The former Prime Minister of Australia was put forward to become the new President of the ICC, but his unpopularity among the powerful Asian and African blocs saw his nomination rejected.

Chairman of Cricket Australia, Jack Clarke, said: “What the genesis…was, we don’t know, that is one of the frustrating things apart from not having any reasons.

“You hope it doesn’t affect the relationship but it obviously puts a block there for a while and makes you wary.

“Gutted and incredibly disappointed that a man of John Howard’s stature has been knocked off for this job. If you keep having processes that don’t work, or are not allowed to work, I am not too sure where they go from here.”

And although Clarke stopped short of blaming the Asian bloc for Howard’s rejection, he did question the amount of power it had. “In any business model where a company has 75 per cent of the income, it’s not an ideal model. But that is not India’s fault they do that…it’s a powerful bloc but it’s a reality of life,” he said.