'Howard's nomination for ICC top job regrettable'

New Zealand Cricket chief Justin Vaughan says the nomination of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard for the ICC vice President's post was regrettable considering the furore it created.

Howard, jointly nominated by Australia and New Zealand, was rejected for the top job after the powerful Asian and African blocs refused to give their votes to him, citing his inexperience in cricket administration.

"In perfect hindsight, if we'd known what the ICC's position on John Howard was going to be - it is regrettable," Vaughan was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.

The rejection of Howard's nomination led to a major controversy with Cricket Australia, NZC and Howard expressing disappointment and anger.

Australia and New Zealand were then asked to nominate a new name but there is no clarity on any potential candidates after former administrator John Anderson refused the job.

NZC and Cricket Australia have time until August 31 to nominate their candidate, who would almost certainly take over as ICC President in 2012 after India's Sharad Pawar.

Vaughan said the matter has become sensitive and would have to be handled carefully and as quickly as possible.

"We felt clear messages coming back around John Howard. Australia invested a lot of time into getting Howard to put himself forward for the position, so it's a sensitive position for them," he said.

"It's something that we'll discuss with them in the next couple of weeks. It's really important NZC and CA are on the same page with the new nominee ... they (the ICC) said (Howard) was unacceptable and asked us to re-nominate. That's pretty clear."

After a meeting on Friday, NZC has floated the names of its former chief executive Chris Doig and current chairman Alan Isaac as potential candidates.

"Both those people certainly tick the boxes," Vaughan said.

But CA remains mum on the issue, insisting that Howard is its candidate for the time being.

"We're not going to go into hypotheticals ... he's the only name our board has authorised at this point," the spokesman said.