Former Australia PM Howard in fray for cricket's top job

Sydney:

Former Australian prime minister John Howard looks set to head the International Cricket Council (ICC) when the post is vacated by India's Sharad Pawar in 2012, news reports said.

Pawar, currently vice-president of the ICC is to take over from Britain's David Morgan in July.

Under an international arrangement, it is Australasia's turn to next head the council, and Howard's name is believed to have been put forward by the game's governing bodies in Australia and New Zealand.

"We do have a preferred candidate," a spokesman for Cricket Australia said Friday but refused to confirm or deny that Howard, 70, was their pick. "He is very dedicated to cricket and willing for his name to go forward."

Howard, prime minister from 1996 to 2007, lost the premiership and his seat in parliament in 2007 and has been at a loose end since.