Speaking as an Australian, I feel absolutely no insult over the rejection of John Howard as Deputy President of the ICC. None whatsoever. And many of my cricket-loving compatriots feel the same way.
I agree with Peter Roebuck's decription of John Howard as 'an outsider uninvolved in cricket'.
Why should Howard have been nominated? Certainly not on the basis of his provocative comments about Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action. It was none of his business.
Let's keep conservative politicians in their place - as spectators - and leave sport to talented sports men and women.
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Hear, hear! By the way, great photo of MM's bowling action.
ReplyDeleteWarwick McDonald couldn't post directly due to a glitch in this Google blog, so he sent me this comment via my email cvwananda.gmail.com:
ReplyDelete'I agree completely with this conclusion. Howard has always been a divisive figure and the majority of the tiny (but very diverse) number of cricketing nations agree. He always opposed sporting boycotts against apartheid South Africa and probably would have categorised Mandela as a terrorist. So why would the Africans be comfortable with him? He has always had a difficulty with racial issues. Ex-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has said in his autobiography that Howard alone amongst his Cabinet opposed allowing the Vietnamese 'boat people' refugees to enter Australia in the late 1970's. With this background what were the Australian authorities thinking? His selection to represent Australia and NZ was at Australia's insistence. The NZ alternative was always better qualified but was shunted aside. He should now be reinstated as the legitimate candidate.'
I have mixed views, Christine. Warwick's characterisation of Howard as a divisive figure is spot-on, but the suspicion must remain that the decision to dump Howard was made for all the wrong reasons: his record of opposition to the appalling Mugabe regime, and his anticipated trenchancy on corruption in the sport. The lack of transparency over the circumstances surrounding his dumping is also disquieting.
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