Another snub on Sports Minister to take control of SLC

•  ICC refuses to meet Minister-appointed Cricket Coordinating Committee

The efforts of Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe to bring the administering of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) under his control took another blow when the International Cricket Council (ICC) point blankly refused to meet a three-member Cricket Coordinating Committee (CCC) appointed by him.

The CCC comprising past Sri Lanka cricketer Sidath Wettimuny (Chairman), past SLC President Upali Dharmadasa and Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe’s son Rakitha Rajapakshe was appointed last Tuesday by the Minister to “monitor, communicate and coordinate with International and national cricket councils, federations and institutes to safeguard the development, independence and transparency of cricket in Sri Lanka and also to advice the Hon. Minister”.

Having set up the committee the Minister wrote to the ICC of the latest development and sought a meeting for them with ICC Chairman Greg Barclay. The ICC however has turned down the request and reiterated the need for SLC to be run independently without any Government interference.

The ICC letter signed by its Chief Executive Geoff Allardice addressed to the Sports Minister states: “The ICC’s point of contact for all issues relating to cricket in Sri Lanka will be Sri Lanka Cricket. So, the ICC Chair and/or CEO will not be meeting with your International Sports Coordination Committee in Cricket without the endorsement of Sri Lanka Cricket, and no such endorsement has been given.”

Further, the letter from the ICC reminded the Minister: “As I stated in my letter to you on 11 April, the ICC expects Sri Lanka Cricket to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no Government (or other public or quasi-public body) interference in its governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket.”

Since the appointment of former Sri Lanka Captain Arjuna Ranatunga as the Chairman of the National Sports Council in August last year by the Sports Minister, the SLC has been criticised over its handling of funds and the lack of transparency in its administration, accusations which they have so far met with a straight bat.

Following repeated complaints from the SLC over political interference, the ICC appointed a three-member committee headed by Jay Shah ( Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary) and comprising Usman Khwaja (ICC Deputy Chair) and Nazmul Hassan ( Bangladesh Cricket Board President).

Khwaja visited Sri Lanka and held talks with top Government officials including President Ranil Wickremasinghe, the Sports Minister, SLC officials and former administrators during a two-day fact-finding mission.

In another attempt to creep into the cricket administration, the Minister appointed a five-member Technical Consultative Committee headed by Former Captain Sanath Jayasuriya to advise the Sports Minister, Ministry officials and the National Sports Council on all matters relating to cricket in Sri Lanka.

Following Sri Lanka’s exit from the T20 World Cup last year a committee appointed by the Sports Minister made recommendations for the suspension of SLC’s registration and a complete audit report. The audit report presented to Parliament has highlighted various financial and procedural irregularities by SLC and recommended instituting legal action against those responsible.