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The president of Sri Lanka fired the minister of
sports who wanted to remove the SLC board and replace it with a temporary
committee on Monday. The ICC’s suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket may be lifted
more easily if Roshan Ranasinghe is removed, although this is not a given.
The “top level” of the Sri Lankan government
was urged by SLC to provide assurances that politics will not be allowed to
meddle with cricket administration in the future. Although President Ranil
Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka has not yet made such a pledge, his dismissal from
office may be a sign that he wants the entire administration to back down.
Either way, Ranasinghe was the one who pursued the dismissal of SLC’s office
bearers with the greatest vigour.
However, in addition to losing his position as
minister of sports, Ranasinghe also lost his positions as minister of
irrigation and youth affairs. This came after he had earlier on Monday accused
the president in parliament. The fact that SLC had been suspended by the ICC
two weeks earlier may not have had much of an impact on his termination.
In any case, SLC officials, who have been at odds with
the minister for almost a year, will be relieved to hear of Ranasinghe’s
removal. As Ranasinghe had done against him elsewhere, board president Shammi
Silva insulted Ranasinghe personally in the press conferences that SLC staged
over the last two weeks.
Ranasinghe had also charged SLC on several occasions
with mismanagement and corruption. He had also appointed an interim committee
led by Arjuna Ranatunga, which was removed a day later by the Sri Lankan
courts. The group included two sons of politicians who had no prior experience
managing cricket.
It is believed that SLC requested an ICC suspension in
an effort to exert pressure on the sports minister, who had temporarily fired
the cricket board. Sri Lanka lost the privilege to host the Under-19 men’s
World Cup, which was originally slated for January and February of 2024, as a
result of SLC’s suspension.