Sri Lanka joins opposition to Howard

Former PM John Howard’s bid for the ICC presidency has taken another hit with Sri Lanka’s cricket chief declaring he would not support it. The fresh body blow comes on top of objections from the South African and Zimbabwe boards, and questions over India’s support.

The Australian reports that Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee chairman, Somachandra de Silva, told the Cricinfo website Thursday that he could not support Howard -- a keen fan of the game -- because he lacked a cricketing background.

“On principle, it is the wrong thing to do to bring someone from outside for the vice-presidency,” de Silva said.

“We would support any of the directors from Australiaand New Zealandwho are representatives of the ICC, but not anyone from outside the sport.

“At the last ICC meeting in Dubaiabout two months ago, it was mentioned that Howard’s name was being put forward for the vice-president’s post, and I was of the opinion it was wrong.

“Anyone coming forward for ICC posts should be currently involved in cricket and not be a total outsider. In that respect we would not be supporting the candidature of Howard for the vice-presidency.”

The ICC presidency rotates every two years and Howard’s nomination was expected to be ratified at an ICC meeting last month.

The ensuing controversy has left both Cricket Australia and the ICC confused and embarrassed.