Sports Minister submits proposal to revamp SLC Constitution

By Madushka Balasuriya

A special proposal outlining sweeping changes to Sri Lanka Cricket’s Constitution has been handed over to Parliament, Sports Minister Harin Fernando announced yesterday, adding that the two concept papers will be tabled in Parliament soon. 

The proposal, which was prepared by former national cricketers Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettamuny, is understood to outline SLC’s present structure, and how and why it should be reformed. 

A 15-point recommendation section references several areas, though the highlight is certainly its focus on SLC’s membership and voting structure, and its Executive Committee. The need to reform SLC’s electoral process is identified as of paramount importance, while there is also a recommendation for the Executive body of SLC should to have a mix of elected and appointed members, with the appointed members required to be independent professionals.

A Cabinet-mandated change to the SLC constitution to address the bloated SLC electoral process has long been a key sticking point for many outside observers looking in. At present SLC elections utilise 147 votes among 86 stakeholders, something broadly considered unwieldy when looking at the volume and geographical magnitude of cricket in Sri Lanka.

SLC voter distribution has long been a talking point also due to the perceived control of dozens of votes by a handful of individuals, which more often than not can lead to conflicts of interest for voting clubs.

The main way to change the constitution is if all member clubs take a vote, however with that an increasingly unlikely scenario a Government mandate is widely seen as the only alternative. However Sri Lanka Cricket has in the past run foul of the ICC for perceived undue Government interference in its affairs, most notably when it was run for several years by a succession of interim committees. This led to Sri Lanka being demoted to observer member status by the ICC in 2015, before the election of a new executive committee allowed SLC to regain full membership.

Fernando speaking at a special media briefing refuted any assertion that this was unwarranted Government interference in SLC matters.

“Please don’t attempt to define this as an act of unwarranted involvement in SLC affairs. Sri Lanka’s Sports Law gives the Sports Ministry the right to take any decision for the betterment of each of the 66 sports in this country, of which cricket is one of them,” he said.Fernando also pointed to England’s success as evidence that the recommendations in the report were sound. Much of England’s success over the last four years culminating in this year’s World Cup win, revolved around a core group of players – all of whom were part of England’s unsuccessful 2015 World Cup bid. 

Not many sides in world cricket can point towards such an unflinching selection policy, but it this ability to stay the course in terms of long-term ambition which is now reaping irrefutable dividends for an English side that in the past had been dearly lacking in vision.

“If we are to win the 2023 Cricket World Cup, we have to starting planning for it now. The best example is England, where Eoin Morgan and Andrew Strauss planned everything after their early exit in the 2015 World Cup, and then stuck to that plan. And now you can see their success.”