The John Howard Ouster; 5 Pawar Points!

Your past sins will visit you in your future and can turn life into a hell. So take care of your present! Said a Sage thousands of years ago. How true it has been proved with John Howard and his Country!

The Speed and fury with which the former CEO of ICC, then Steve Waugh, Mervin Hughes and sundry Australians have come out against the ouster of John Howard indicates things are rotting at ICC. Speed called PCB Chief Ejaz Butt a 'Buffoon' and declared Sharad Pawar knows nothing about Cricket!

I hardly know Ejaz Butt, even the Pakistan players don't know him! So I am not qualified enough to talk about Butt.  But coming to Pawar; Malcolm Speed has a point. Sharad Pawar will be hard-pressed even to recognize Indian players, leave alone managing the ICC.

But what lead to the rejection of Honorable Mr. Howard? It is all about Pawar, I mean Power! Here are the 5 Power Points aka Pawar Points!

1] The Stubborn Kangaroo and the Wily Old Fox: John Howard is like a stubborn old Kangaroo. He wants to hop from one Political forum to another and has too many things in his sack. He was Australia's second longest serving Prime Minister. He is past 70 and ideally should have stayed clear of this 'rat-race'.

We can't accommodate two big balls in the same 'rat-hole' the ICC has turned out into. Pawar is junior to Howard by age and hierarchy. He will never be comfortable with a former Prime Minister in his office. It also is the revenge of a Minister who was once pushed off the podium by Howard's countrymen. Right now, it is the 'Day of the Wily Old Fox'!

2] Survival of the Fittest: ICC is run by the jungle-law and the famed Darwin's theory! Sri Lanka will never forgive John Howard. Mere mention of this name causes 'Hair Raising' experience in the Emerald Islands. I now suspect they sold the Asia Cup Final to India to keep Howard out of the ICC.

All the Lions of Lanka had come out in support of the lone Tiger in their team when he was blamed of 'Chucking'. Today, the Lions supported the old fox to rout the Kangaroo. So what did the Lions tell Pawar? Chuck De India !

3] African Safari and Shahid Afridi: Love him or hate him but you can't ignore Robert Mugabe. He has some influence in his Continent. South Africa, until recently a staunch Aussie supporter voted against Howard. So did the West Indies. Is there an African angle to this twist in the tail of the Kangaroo?

But why did Butt support staunch enemy India? How can people forget Afridi's ball-biting act during the tour down under and how the Aussies capitalized on it to disgrace Pakistan? They were willing to do anything to see an Aussie fall down under and bite the dust!

4] The Dog finally wags the tail: Australia and England have wielded disproportionate power in the corridors of ICC for too long. The tail has wagged the Dog during all these years of Colonial domination. The Dog was released from the leash in 2005 when the Center of Gravity of the Cricket world shifted to Dubai.

It is now a Dog eat Dog race for power. Speed today is worried the power center will shift further down south to Mumbai. It shouldn't hurt the financial interests of the ICC. India is where the booty lies!

5] Kangaroo out of Kangaroo Court: In spite of assertions to the contrary by David Morgan, Pawar definitely is not comfortable with Johan Howard. But then Australia had bullied New Zealand into supporting Howard when the Kiwis wanted their own John Anderson to be nominated.

Aussies have always bullied the Kiwis, but Kiwis have stood behind their mighty neighbors almost all the times. So secretly even the Kiwis will be happy over this snub. There is no place for a Kangaroo in the Kangaroo Court of ICC! Some justice that is!

Finally where are we headed now? The Divide was always there. Diplomacy can perhaps stifle the flow of bad blood for the time being. But it will spill over when there is another gash.

No doubt the Aussies are hurt. But as I mentioned at the beginning, it is the collective revisiting of the past follies! Aussies had to pay for them. I am not complaining. Majority of those outside Australia will not either!