New committee appointed to help run SLC until elections

By Madushka Balasuriya

Sports Minister Faiszer Mustapha has appointed a five-member Advisory Committee to assist in Sri Lanka Cricket’s day-to-day operations, in the run up to yet-to-be-announced board elections, it has been announced. It is expected to share duties with the Sports Ministry-appointed Competent Authority, which has been heading up SLC since 1 June.

Comprising President’s Counsel Dinal Philips, Samantha Rajapaksa, Mohamed Hisham Jamaldeen, Ranil Pathirana and Lasantha Wickremasinghe, the committee has been mandated with “inculcating corporate and operational efficiency,” according to an SLC release.

“The new committee will provide guidelines for the SLC Management to continue its operations unhindered, whilst it will also focus on inculcating “Corporate and Operational Efficiency” to SLC operations, going forward,” stated the release.

The appointment of an advisory committee - effective 9 November - comes on the heels of three other committee appointments last week, though SLC confirmed that each committee would retain a degree of autonomy and exist independent of each other.

“The recently appointed Cricket Advisory Committee, Tournament Committee and the Umpires Committee will co-exist independently and are authorised to take decisions, without interference from any parties on cricket-related matters,” the release concluded.

SLC elections have been delayed indefinitely since 31 May after a Court of Appeal found that SLC election protocol had been flouted in the run-up to the elections. While the court subsequently lifted the ban, elections failed to materialise in the months since. February 9, 2019, is the ICC deadline to hold elections.