Prime Minister John Key and his Australian counterpart threw their support behind John Howard today after an International Cricket Council (ICC) snub which Key labelled a "shocking decision".
Key and new Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard both weighed into the debate as Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) mull over their next move after the ICC gave them until August 31 to come up with a new candidate for the vice-presidency.
Howard, the joint nomination from New Zealand and Australia, was stymied at Wednesday's ICC executive board meeting in Singapore when six of the 10 test-playing nations reportedly signed a letter opposing him. Howard was labelled "a closet racist" in India's media today.
"I think it's a shocking decision. I saw John on TV saying he's going to hold his ground and I think he should. He really could do the job and he could eat it up for breakfast," Key told Radio Sport today.
Howard, 70, has bullishly refused to withdraw his nomination for the vice-presidency, which operates on a regional rotation and is usually rubber stamped at ICC board level. The candidate automatically graduates to the presidency after two years, as India's Sharad Pawar did this week.
Said Key: "He (Howard) would be fantastic. I know John well, I met him on numerous occasions when I was leader of the opposition and as prime minister. I think he's been a tremendous leader of Australia, a great politician. He's a great administrator and he loves his cricket... even if he can't bowl very well from what I've seen on TV."
India's Times Now television presenter Arnab Goswani came out on the front foot about Howard.
"Why should a museum piece, a symbol of the black-white divide, dare or dream of entering world cricket?" he said.
Gillard meanwhile added her support for Howard.
"John Howard, passionate, passionate cricket fan. I share some of the concerns he's voiced publicly about the kind of factors that are influencing this decision," she told Fairfax Radio today.
"I'd be very happy to offer full support for John Howard to get this role."
Howard said he was not told why his candidacy had been blocked, but he conceded the rebuff could be because of political decisions he had made in the past, including his treatment of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.
The ICC's rejection of Howard, reportedly led by the Asian nations, seemingly opens the way for NZC's former chairman Sir John Anderson who lost out to Howard as the region's nominee on the ruling of an Australian-chaired subcommittee.
But NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan has raised doubts as to whether the highly respected Anderson would be interested.
"He is a busy man. Since January, he has taken on a few more directorships, he's now the chairman of PGG Wrightsons," Vaughan told The Dominion Post.
"The ICC president's role takes a lot of time if you want to do it well. The other point is the events of the last week have probably made the ICC not quite as attractive a proposition to people as it was.
"I imagine there would be a bit of hesitancy from anyone to put their name forward because you never know if it is going to be torpedoed. We need a bit more clarity from the ICC as to why John Howard was unsuitable and rejected."
Vaughan said NZC fully backed Howard's nomination and was also annoyed at the ICC's decision.
"We were single-heartedly behind John Howard. Although there were certain people that felt that Sir John was a better candidate at the time of selection, we really felt the process and the integrity of the process was more important.
"So from the date the choice was made we have had no hesitation in giving our full support to John Howard.
"NZC is held up as a model of good governance in terms of having independent directors who do what is best for cricket... but that obviously doesn't apply to the ICC and that is shame."
