Those of you follow cricket news would be aware that there is currently a furious debate going on about John Howard‘s nomination as the new vice-president of the ICC. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised that it raised the ire of certain groups in world cricket, but it still makes me angry.

Gideon Haigh, whom I consider the greatest living cricket writer by a long distance, has written a brilliant article for Cricinfo which really says it better than I ever could.

I get sick of the casualness with which the word racist is bandied around. When someone’s default defense or attack against things that they don’t agree with is to accuse the other side of racism, it cheapens the meaning of the word.

I certainly didn’t approve of everything John Howard did as Prime Minister but I never thought he was a racist. I remember watching Meet the Press when a journalist insinuated that Howard would care more about children who had died when a boatload of asylum seekers sank had they been white British children. I have never seen Howard look more furious, I thought he was going to have a stroke. If he was feigning that he was in the wrong career!

The only thing I would add is that I think what will make Howard a great president for the ICC when the time comes is what was his greatest strength and greatest weakness as Prime Minister. Howard, no matter what else you might say about him, was always willing to do what he thought the right thing was regardless of public opinion or popularity, to make the hard decisions rather than just obey the spin doctors. From gun control to the War in Iraq he never shirked from pursuing the course of action he believed in. He was one of the few people brave enough to condemn Mugabe at CHOGM, getting called a racist for his pains. It’s funny that cricket led the way in sanctioning South Africa during apartheid, but was so reluctant to do the same to Zimbabwe. A cynic might think it had something to do with race, but of course it wasn’t. Right.

If he becomes head of the ICC, Howard will not pander to special interest groups or respect the powerful cliques that have formed. Cricket is a source of riches and power for certain groups and they have no desire to see things change. Howard will not respect the status quo, he will do what he thinks is right for the game he loves (and there is no doubt he loves it) regardless of who it upsets or how many rackets it disturbs. What has he got to lose? Once you’ve run a nation what is the ICC? There are powerful groups and individuals who know that someone like Howard leading the ICC is a threat to their cosy arrangements. Maybe that is what they are scared of.

Tags: cricket, Gideon Haigh, ICC, John Howard, Mugabe, racism