International Cricket Council (ICC) president-elect Sharad Pawar has sought to defuse the row over the nomination of former Australia Prime Minister John Howard as an ICC vice-president
International Cricket Council (ICC) president-elect Sharad Pawar has sought to defuse the row over the nomination of former Australia Prime Minister John Howard as an ICC vice-president.
Pawar is set to take over the presidency of world cricket's governing body from Welshman David Morgan next month, with former politician Howard becoming a vice-president.
However, officials from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have all raised concerns about Howard's suitability.
Four votes are needed to block a nomination but India's Pawar is anxious to avoid a damaging split.
"I am sure we can reach a decision which will be unanimously supported by the ICC board," Pawar said in a joint statement issued with Morgan after they met at Lord's during the ongoing first Test.
Nominations are normally decided on a rotational basis and as it is Australia and New Zealand's turn to nominate a vice-president, former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Morgan and Pawar said their choice had to be respected by the rest of the ICC board.
"The board of the ICC debated and approved, some two years ago, a nomination process for the presidency and the vice-presidency," the statement said.
"The board of the ICC had debated and approved the current nomination process for the presidency and the vice-presidency. The unanimous decision of the board at the time was that the presidency and the vice-presidency should be decided on a rotational basis.
"The ICC had decided that the next vice-president would be nominated by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket. Those two boards have been through a very thorough selection process to suggest a candidate.
