Former Australian prime minister John Howard is set to become president of the International Cricket Committee in 2012 after Australian and New Zealand cricket officials agreed to nominate him for the position.
Cricket Australia and New Zealand cricket officially nominated Mr Howard on Tuesday after months of discussion and dispute over who would be their joint candidate.
Cricket Australia pushed hard for Mr Howard, while NZC was equally adamant that the man for the job was former NZC chairman Sir John Anderson, AAP reports.
Under the ICC presidency rotation, an Australasian candidate fills the role for a two-year term from 2012.
David Morgan, who is currently in the chair, is due to hand over to India's Sharad Pawar for a two-year period to start in mid-2010.
Mr Howard will become vice-president of the ICC in June, then will go on to serve as president. He said he was honoured and humbled to receive the joint Australia-New Zealand invitation.