The ICC issued a brief statement Monday confirming it had
received the nomination from New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Australia after
their earlier nomination of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard was blocked
by six of the ICC's 10 full members.
Isaac succeeded John Anderson as chairman of New Zealand
Cricket in 2008 and is a former chairman of the New Zealand division of global
accounting firm KPMG.
"It has been a lengthy process," ICC chief
executive Haroon Lorgat said. "The process now requires Mr. Isaac's
nomination to be formally approved by the ICC board and council which will be
done as quickly as possible through a circular resolution so that he
immediately assumes responsibility as ICC vice president for two years before
taking over as the ICC President in 2012." Cricket Australia announced
Friday it would support New Zealand Cricket's nomination of Isaac, while
reaffirming Howard's credentials and saying it was "disappointed and most
concerned by the ICC executive board's lack of support." Howard's
nomination was rejected on the sidelines of an ICC executive board meeting in
Singapore last month without a formal vote being taken.
His election should have been a formality as, by
convention, the vice presidency changes hands every two years on a rotational
basis. After two years the vice president becomes the ICC president.
Howard, a conservative, was Australian prime minister for
11 years before his Coalition government was swept from power in 2007.
Zimbabwe, which was angered by Howard's successful
efforts to keep it out of the Commonwealth, spearheaded the opposition to his
ICC nomination, which lost traction when India withdrew its support for him.
