FORMER Australian prime minister John Howard's bid to lead world cricket has been rejected, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Wednesday, after a revolt by Asian and African nations.
Howard recently visited Zimbabwe as part of his campaign and although the country was not among the six to sign a letter opposing his candidacy, local cricket officials were said to be among the agitators against his bid.
The conservative politician, known for his tough treatment of asylum-seekers as prime minister between 1996 and 2007, was also a leading critic of Zimbabwe's regime and included its cricket officials in 2008 sanctions.
A statement from the ICC board at a meeting in Singapore said the right-wing former leader's nomination to serve as president of world cricket's governing body had failed to muster enough backing.
"Following lengthy consideration it was recognised that the nomination (of Howard) put forward by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket did not have sufficient support within the ICC board," the ICC said in a statement.
"No vote was taken," added the statement.
Opposition from Asian and African nations sealed the fate of Howard, who has no experience in cricket administration and who clashed repeatedly with some of the countries opposed to his ICC bid when he was Australia's premier.
"There was nothing personal against Howard," a source in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told AFP.
"But we do accept the argument that only a man with previous experience in cricket administration should head the ICC. Howard was not involved with Cricket Australia at any time."
Former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar, a federal minister in the Indian government who has served as ICC vice-president for the last two years, takes over from outgoing president David Morgan of England on Thursday.
Tradition dictates that after Pawar, it is the turn of Australia/New Zealand in 2012. Howard was put forward by Cricket Australia as a wily political operator who could boost the governing body's profile in international sport.
But a majority of Test-playing nations reportedly signed a letter opposing Howard's bid amid anger that New Zealand's former cricket board chairman, John Anderson, had been overlooked.
"Six of the 10 major cricket nations signed a letter opposing Howard as a candidate while a seventh, Zimbabwe, did not sign but is one of the main agitators against him," an Australian newspaper reported.
"Howard's only supporters were the three white nations: Australia, New Zealand and England, reinforcing the power of the Afro-Asia bloc in world cricket."