Board reject Howard's ICC bid

FORMER Australia Prime Minister John Howard has failed in his bid to become the next vice-president of the International Cricket Council.

Howard, 70, had been nominated for the position by Cricket Australia (CA) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC), who have been asked to put forward another candidate by the ICC. The decision was made yesterday at the week-long ICC executive board meeting in Singapore.

"Following lengthy consideration it was recognised that the nomination put forward by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket did not have sufficient support within the ICC Board. No vote was taken," the sport's governing body said in a statement.

The nomination of Howard, who lost the 2007 Australian federal election and retired from politics, had been contentious with earlier newspaper reports indicating that six of the ten major cricket nations at the Singapore meeting had signed a letter opposing him as a candidate.