Malcolm Speed, the former CEO of the ICC, is confident that John Howard will have his nomination confirmed as the ICC’s president-designate by getting India’s support."It's outrageous," Speed said, referring to the protests made by South Africa and Zimbabwe.
"There is some irony in this," Speed told the 'Australian'. "Zimbabwe throughout has said 'you must come and play against us for the sake of our cricket. You can't have politics in cricket, you can't make political considerations', and the ICC has consistently endorsed that position.
"Their position now, as I understand it, is that Howard's not qualified because he's a politician and he's criticised Zimbabwe, so they bring politics back into it when it suits them. I think the behaviour of Zimbabwe, and South Africa supporting them, has been outrageous.
"They agreed to the process. They knew it was to be Australia and New Zealand's decision and they should have been prepared to accept that position and not second-guess those countries. The process should have been followed."
Sri Lanka justified its opposition by saying that Howard did not qualify for the post as he was not a member of Cricket Australia, but Speed drubbed it as "nonsense".
"[Ehsan] Mani wasn't a member of the Pakistan board," Speed said of the ICC president elected in 2003. "In fact he lived in England, but he was their nominee and he was a very good president."
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