John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minister, is set to head the International Cricket Council from 2012 after being jointly nominated for the presidency by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket. David Morgan, the Englishman who heads the ICC, will finish his two-year term later this year and be replaced by the current vice-president, Sharad Pawar of India, with the rotation policy meaning that Australasia's candidate will take over in two years' time.
Howard will initially become vice-president. He said: "It is a great honour to be nominated by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket for the vice-presidency of the Internatio-nal Cricket Council from June-July 2010. Cricket has been one of my lifelong passions and, if the ICC accepts my nomination, it will be a privilege to serve this great game." "We are pleased that an eminent candidate in John Howard has agreed, after an exhaustive process, to take the role of joint Australia-New Zealand nominee," said CA chairman Jack Clarke and his NZC counterpart Alan Isaac.
"The ICC faces significant and complex internal and external challenges in its quest for cricket to become a genuinely global sport. "Australia and New Zealand considered a number of distinguished candidates of global stature before deciding to invite John Howard to consider the role." * PA Sport