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The way forward is to have a former Test cricketer to head the ICC. Alex Brown in the Sydney Morning Herald has a perfectly suitable candidate in Mark “Tubby” Taylor. This is an altogether more palatable suggestion, and a stark contrast to the piece by Malcolm Conn in The Australian in support of John Howard.
The Australian seems to suggest that Howard’s rejection is a slap in the face for Australia. It is as emotive as Howard’s posturing on immigration prior to his election victory in 2001. Julia Gillard has reopened this divisive debate with her statement that Western Sydney is concerned at the high levels of immigration. This is calculated vote-gathering.
Australia has moved on from the divisiveness of the Howard era. It is now a welcoming and altogether more inclusive multicultural society. When I first came to Australia in 1970, there was one Indian restaurant in Sydney. At last count there were more than 500. You name it and it is available. Chinese cuisine, Italian fare, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Afghan bread, Serbian burek and Yorkshire pud. But this is all at a superficial level.
Dig deeper and you see car stickers like: “F—k off, we’re full”, “Australia is for Australians”, etc. Well of course it is. For all Australians who have sworn allegiance to the flag. But not blind allegiance to archaic and discriminatory customs. To be diverse is not a crime. We are all different and there is no need for us all to have the same beliefs. Reasoned and free speech should be welcomed and embraced.
Some in the sporting community see soccer as usurping the natural order of AFL and rugby, both League and Union. Administrators are paranoid about losing ground. This is sport we are talking about and people will gravitate to the sport that to them is most inclusive, fair and rewarding. It cannot be forced on the public.
Racial vilification laws in this country are the most stringent anywhere yet it is not tested for want of resources and ignorance on the part of those vilified. If one is sympathetic to the plight of the Aboriginals or the disadvantaged he is instantly labeled as left-wing and a “do-gooder”. Many well-meaning people feel it is better to keep quiet than risk being marginalized.
There is much to admire and be thankful for in Australia. Not least of all the open spaces and the beauty of the coastline. The ethos of a fair go that is sometimes hijacked by political considerations and vested interests.
I will make the point again that John Howard was the wrong nomination. His cricket coffin carried a lot of skeletons. There have been no reasons given by the ICC for Howard’s rejection and perhaps none should be sought because the reply may not be palatable.
The perception that Howard has racist overtones is not something that started in India. It has its genesis in the Aboriginal community here in Australia. The Australia I envisage is a country for its entire people and not the absolute prerogative of those from Britain or Europe. If at all there is a hierarchy of immigration then the Aboriginal people sit at the very top of the tree.
I have advocated for a long time that cricket is best administered by those who have an understanding of the game. From the lowest to the most elite level. Australia is well served in the various state associations with men like Graeme Woods, David Gilbert and Tony Dodemaide. James Sutherland the CEO of Cricket Australia has also played first class cricket.
In India we have Anil Kumble and the West Indies has Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding. England has one of the best thinkers of the modern game in Mike Atherton and South Africa has the integrity of Dr. Ali Bacher. Any of these men would be acceptable to cricket lovers anywhere in the world.
Allan Border and Mark Taylor would be my Australian nominees. For them to be interested they would have to be suitably compensated as they both have lucrative careers which may have to be put on hold.
If the ICC rejected any of these, then I would walk away from this great game.
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