•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Sri Lankan spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan said on Wednesday that former Australian prime minister John Howard faced a challenge winning over South Asian cricket nations as the new head of the sport’s world body.

Howard, 70, was named on Tuesday as Australia’s and New Zealand’s candidate to take over the rotating International Cricket Council presidency when it becomes available in 2012.

Muralitharan, 37, told The Sydney Morning Herald his feud with Howard was “all finished” but said the influential cricket nations in the subcontinent might need more convincing.

Howard angered Muralitharan and Sri Lankan cricket by publicly questioning the cricketer’s unique bowling action in 2004, calling him a chucker.

“I’m not upset or angry with him or anything. At the time, I thought it was wrong — that was my opinion and he had his,” said Muralitharan, test cricket’s greatest wicket-taker with 792.

“We’ve got to think about the future. How is he going to handle things in cricket?” he added. “It won’t be an easy job. He has to convince the subcontinent — that’s going to be a tough challenge for him.”

Off-spinner Muralitharan refused to tour Australia in July 2004 after Howard’s comments, and the politician later apologized.

Sri Lanka said on Wednesday that it held no grudge against Howard over the Muralitharan episode and was willing to work with him if he was elected.

Elsewhere, the reaction to Howard’s nomination was mixed.

Cricket commentator Peter Roebuck said he had some regret that New Zealand’s candidate, Sir John Anderson, was overlooked as he was “clearly the best qualified” of the two.

But Roebuck, writing in the Herald, said the Australian’s “appointment is hardly a calamity. Only the most churlish will deny Howard his experience and acumen.”

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Howard would “do a terrific job for world cricket”, while Malcolm Gray, the only other Australian to have held the ICC post, said Howard’s political experience would be ideal for the job. AFP