New Zealander Alan Isaac says he is not a puppet and does not feels like a third-rate choice after his nomination as vice-president of cricket's global governing body, reports said Saturday. Isaac is Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket's nomination behind former Australia Prime Minister John Howard and former New Zealand board chairman John Anderson.
Howard failed to get sufficient backing from the International Cricket Council board for a post which will eventually see the holder become president of the body. Anderson was beaten by Howard for the original nomination and is now unavailable.
Isaac, the New Zealand Cricket chairman, has a lifetime of sports administration and corporate governance behind him and is seen as having the ability to navigate the culturally and politically diverse landscape of the ICC. Isaac, 58, denied that he was a third-rate choice or would be a puppet to interests within the ICC. "I don't feel like second or third pick and if you talk to anyone who knows me, I'm not a puppet, I am my own person," Isaac told The Australian newspaper. "I'd like to think I'm judged on what I achieve or what I don't achieve in two, three or four years' time." Isaac said he hoped to improve the standing of the ICC.
"As Haroon (ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat) said recently, one of the things we all need to do is to improve the reputation of the ICC," Isaac said. "In the time I've been at the table it does operate in a more effective way than the media would portray it. "The realities are that decisions which have been made and will be made in the future inevitably won't be met with general acceptance.
"It often depends on what your own personal interests are as to whether you agree with a decision. That just goes with the territory." Isaac said he was frustrated, but philosophical, about the way Howard was treated by the ICC, through a letter with no reason given and no formal vote taken of his nomination.
The Australian newspaper said while the ICC denies that it is dominated by the Afro-Asian countries of South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Isaac agrees it's hard to argue against the perception in the light of Howard's demise.
"I can understand why people would say that and like John Howard it's a little frustrating that countries weren't specific about why they didn't support John," he told the newspaper. "But we live in a democracy and we have to respect the views of other people. You move on." Isaac said he hopes his experience as a corporate mediator will help in his new ICC role.