Calcutta: Jack Clarke, the Cricket Australia (CA) chairman, looks set to be the next vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He will, of course, then eventually head the world body for a two-year period, from 2012-13, once Sharad Pawar’s term gets over.

India’s Pawar, the current No. 2, will succeed David Morgan of England next June. Jagmohan Dalmiya had been the first Indian — Asian, in fact — to hold the No.1 position in the ICC.

Pawar is a former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief. Outside cricket, he’s a Union minister and carries considerable clout in the corridors of power.

By rotation, it’s the turn of Australia/New Zealand to nominate the next vice-president (and eventual president). As Australia’s Malcolm Gray had been at the helm for a three-year period from 2000-01, it was assumed that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) would stake its claim this time.

According to The Telegraph’s sources, however, NZC chairman Allan Isaac isn’t keen on one day heading the ICC and predecessor Sir John Anderson is, apparently, not keeping good health.

“That’s how things stand now,” one of the sources pointed out, from Dubai, on Saturday.

It couldn’t be confirmed, but it seems that Isaac isn’t particularly happy with some of the goings-on in the ICC, where the dominant role is being played by India.

The ambitious Clarke, therefore, is likely to have a smooth ride on his way to the top in the ICC. A one-time club-level cricketer in Adelaide, Clarke has been on CA’s board, in one capacity or the other, for a decade.

“Clarke’s mindset is much like that of Pawar and those who’re running the BCCI today... That way, then, one can expect continuity in the ICC’s functioning,” is how another source put it.

The CA chairman is on “very good terms” with the BCCI brass and, clearly, that’s seen as a significant plus.

Nominations for the No.2 position in the ICC have to be filed by the end of this year, so only a few weeks remain.

Most would be putting their money on Clarke.