Melbourne, May 30: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reportedly forced Sri Lanka to join South Africa and Zimbabwe in their oppositon to John Howard’s nomination for the ICC vice-presidency.
The Indian board threatened to cut off all its ties with Sri Lanka if it supported former Australian Prime Minister Howard’s nomination for the ICC job.
”The Indian cricket board had threatened to cut off its ties with Sri Lanka if no support is extended to oppose John Howard,” The Daily Telegraph quoted well placed sources in London as saying.
Another source revealed that Pakistan was also likely to also oppose Howard’s nomination.
Australia and New Zealand jointly nominated Howard as their candidate – under a rotation system – to become the new president of the ICC, South Africa and Zimbabwe are against it. Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, South Africa are opposed to Howard’s appointment, with his actions against Robert Mugabe’s despotic regime in Zimbabwe and his comments about Sri Lanka spin bowler Muttiah Mularitharan appearing to act against him.
It was also learnt that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) did not consult with the country’s sports minister, as they are required to do, before opposing Howard’s nomination for ICC vice-president.
Sri Lanka’s sports minister, C.B Ratnayake, said he would discuss the matter with SLC board officials. The SLC, unlike those in Asia’s other Test playing nations, (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) is bound to seek the approval of its sports minister for any major policy decision.
—Agencies