Taylor downplays his chances of being CA chief

SYDNEY: Former Test captain Mark Taylor has downplayed his chances of leading Cricket Australia, with interim chairman Earl Eddings favourite to take over after the organisation was rocked by a ball-tampering scandal.

Taylor was tipped for the hotseat after former chairman David Peever quit Thursday under intense pressure following a scathing review which partly blamed CA for the damaging ‘sandpaper-gate’ episode. The respected ‘Tubby’ Taylor, a current board member, was endorsed by former CA chief executive Malcolm Speed. But he cited a conflict of interest in seemingly ruling himself out.

“Given my media role, I don’t believe being chairman would be appropriate,” he was quoted as saying by Channel Nine, having recently signed a new contract with the broadcaster which has the rights to the World Cup and Ashes series in 2019. Taylor’s long-time former teammate Ian Healy said he would be “a very good chairman”, but the time wasn’t right.