Windies Cricket Board has decided not to vote for Sharad Pawar in the ICC presidency election. It will support ECB president David Morgan.
DNA Special
The West Indies Cricket Board has decided not to vote for Sharad Pawar in the International Cricket Council election. The decision, however, has no connection with the betting scandal.
“We had decided this some time back. Our support in the ICC election will be for Mr David Morgan,” A WICB spokesman told DNA. “We’ve already informed this to the Indian Board.”
Morgan is the chairman of England and Wales Cricket Board and is contesting the Board of Control for Cricket in India president in the ICC election. The election will be held in June this year.
The WICB’s stand is a setback for the BCCI chief’s aspiration to become the ICC boss. The announcement, interestingly, came just days after the electoral defeat Pawar’s party suffered in the recent BMC election. And further setback for the Union Minister is Cricket South Africa too seems to be sailing with the ECB chief.
Officials of CSA could not be reached immediately for comment, but the BCCI has said it is aware of South Africa’s position. “We know where South Africa stands vis-a-vis the election.
They are not with us,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah confirmed. Interestingly, both WICB and CSA had backed the India-led Sub-continent’s successful bid for the 2011 World Cup last June.
As a fallout, what had at one time appeared to be a walk in the Lords Cricket Ground — the venue of the election by the way — has become a rough ride for Pawar. He and his rival are now on an even keel with five votes each among 10 Test-playing nations.
Morgan has the support of Australa, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies besides England while Pawar is backed by the four sub-continent boards (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) besides Zimbabwe.
The Windies and South Africa stand has come as bolt from the blue for the Indian Board which admitted its disappointment. “We’ve extended maximum possible help to the West Indies.
We’ve cooperated with them in every aspect. Even in the conduct of the World Cup, we’re helping them. We feel they should vote for us,” said Shah.
The BCCI paid the WICB $1 miIlion per match against India when Brian Lara’s men travelled to Kuala Lumpur last September for a tri-series. The Indian board has cooperated elsewhere too, allowing Rahul Dravid and his boys to play an extra Test in the West Indies on a request from the WICB last summer.
The BCCI is also disappointed that South Africa too is not with them. The Indian Board feels that all the contribution the BCCI had made in the revival of cricket in South Africa has not made CSA grateful. Even recently, the Indian Board agreed to send team for the first Twenty20 World Cup which South Africa will host in September this year.
Despite the setback, BCCI is confident Pawar will eventually win with the help of associate members.
If elected, Pawar will have to wait till June 2008 when current president Percy Sonn completes his two-year term. The ICC, however, has the option of extending Sonn’s term by another year. In that case, the president-elect will have to wait for another 12 months to assume charge in the ICC’s Dubai headquarters.
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