Early last week, the Government took action to remove the tainted but legally elected Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) administration of Shammi Silva, something two past regimes had failed to achieve since 2019. The cost of the move to the country, however, remains to be seen.
Silva, a former Nalanda and CCC cricketer, first took office in February seven years ago, replacing school colleague Thilanga Sumathipala.
But Silva, following his ascent, initially perceived to be a Sumathipala loyalist, solidified his hold on the nation’s most lucrative and biggest sporting institution, winning four successive terms, three of which were uncontested.
However, the hitherto untouchable Silva met his match at long last in current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who, according to media reports, had engineered the smooth resignation of Silva and his Executive Committee without apparently ruffling the feathers of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The pressure on the now-resigned SLC head and Ex-Co to step aside had been escalating since the National Men’s Team’s humiliating first-round exit from the ICC T20 World Cup, which it co-hosted with eventual winners India in February-March this year.
Adding to this drama were the long-held allegations or charges of financial misappropriation and mismanagement of SLC funds, with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup held in Australia four years ago being a particular sticking point.
These allegations forced the lightning intervention of former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in 2023, who promptly fired the Silva-led SLC Ex-Co, citing audited proof of misconduct.
While Silva was forced to cool his heels for a short period, Ranasinghe wasted little to no time in installing a caretaker committee headed by 1996 World Cup-winning Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, but the former had the last laugh.
Silva successfully petitioned the court and managed to reclaim his position at the Maitland Place Headquarters.
The unfolding standoff ultimately cost the former Minister his Parliamentary seat following a now-famous public fallout with then President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The impact of the latest changes, which took place at the ruling body of the country’s most sought-after sport, where a Cricket Transformation Committee (CTC) was formed under former MP Eran Wickramaratne on Wednesday (29 April), is now left to be seen.
Especially from an ICC perspective, any state interference in the cricket administrations of its member nations bodes ill, as seen in 2023, when the Dubai-based global governing body temporarily stripped Sri Lanka of its membership and froze its funds.
As a consequence of that decision, Sri Lanka’s rights to stage the Under 19 World Cup were also taken away, with the tournament being relocated to South Africa. With that unsavoury episode still fresh in memory, the Government of the day has subtly made its move.
This time around, the ruling National People’s Power (NPP), without dissolving the SLC Ex-Co, had shrewdly requested a change of the top brass at Maitland Place.
They then allowed the subject Minister to bring the body under his ministry’s watch as per Section 33 of the Sports Law No.25 of 1973.
The SLC has now been handed over to a novel CTC, with the Minister maintaining that it was established to bring forth constitutional reforms while meeting public expectations in the form of producing a consistently winning team.
However, at the time of writing, it is yet unclear whether these developments took place with the unequivocal approval of the Jay Shah-led ICC or not.
The Minister had publicly stated a few months ago that the Government was having talks with the ICC with the intention of changing the guard at SLC, with the President himself being a part of those deliberations.