(REUTERS) – Former Australia Prime Minister John Howard has failed in his bid to become the next vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Howard had been nominated for the position by Cricket Australia (CA) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC), who have been asked to put forward another candidate by the ICC.
“Following lengthy consideration it was recognised that the nomination put forward by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket did not have sufficient support within the ICC Board. No vote was taken,” the sport’s governing body said in a statement.
“Under the ICC’s regional rotation process … Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket were invited to re-nominate a candidate by August 31, 2010.”
Under ICC rules, the vice-president would serve for two years then become president in 2012.
The nomination of Howard, who lost the 2007 Australian federal election and retired from politics, had been contentious with newspaper reports earlier indicating that six of the 10 major cricket nations had signed a letter opposing him as a candidate at this week’s executive board meeting in Singapore.
Only Australia, New Zealand and England had supported him, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian reported on their websites.
In the weeks leading up to the Singapore gathering, the Australian media suggested Howard would struggle to seal the nomination.
One of the reasons given was his criticism of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s regime when he was Australian Prime Minister, with both South Africa and Zimbabwe expected not to give him his support.
Sri Lanka cricket authorities had also expressed reservations about his nomination because he did not have the necessary cricketing administrative background.
He also won few friends in Sri Lanka after he questioned the bowling action of Test wicket record holder Muttiah Muralitharan.
Howard was also the subject of a public battle between CA and NZC for the nomination, with New Zealand wanting to nominate their former chairman John Anderson for the position before they agreed to Howard.