• Lawyers says if Bill is ratified it could imperil cricket 
• Wants contentious clauses to be amended

Attorney-at-Law Dr Chanaka Senanayake filed a petition with the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday (8), challenging the Gazetted Sri Lanka Cricket Bill, which was tabled in Parliament by Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage early last week.

Speaking to reporters soon after filing his petition, Dr Senanayake-a former head of the Legal Unit of SLC, stated that certain clauses contained in the new Bill, if allowed to be ratified without any amendments will seriously imperil the sport in the country.

“We don’t say the Bill in its entirely should be thrown out,” he told reporters, having become the first citizen to challenge the Bill before the Apex Court.

“Some clauses have been formulated with the long-term betterment of the game. However, we feel there are a few, which needs revisiting and with that in mind, I filed this petition before the Supreme Court.”

According to Dr. Chanaka Senanayake, the new Bill has confined cricket more or less to Colombo, rather than being spread around the length and breadth of the country.

He emphasised that in nations such as Australia, England and India, where the sport has thrived for generations, no clubs are entitled to cast votes at elections to the sport’s domestic controlling body, and said such areas needs to be urgently reexamined.

He continued “Cricket Acts do not come every day. They come for the only time in our lifetime. I am not prepared to throw the baby with the bathwater here. But if this (Bill) is intended to be good, then it has to be good on all key fronts. That is my argument.”

Dr. Senanayake identified three clauses contained in the SLC Bill to be hurting the independence of the governing body at Maitland Place if not amended forthwith.

“First the Executive President of Sri Lanka has been named as a patron of Sri Lanka Cricket. This is unacceptable, as it is not something that anywhere in the cricketing world has taken place. We feel it is uncalled for.”

He also remarked that in the seven-member nomination committee two are to be named with the consent of the Sports Minister, and stressed that as per Clause 44, the subject Minister has been granted powers to dissolve the existing board and appoint a temporary three-member committee.

“I think the Minister appointing two individuals of his choice to the nomination committee and then giving him (Minister) authority to dissolve the incumbent administration and run it with a three-member committee, does not sit right with the autonomous aspect of the governance of the sport.” 

He further opined “So, these are the issues that I have highlighted in my petition, and I have prayed the Court to issue an order to the Government to ratify the Bill only with the amendments to the Clauses that I have stipulated. I must insist that I am not saying that it (Bill) should be overhauled in toto. I only have sought the contentious Clauses contained in it to be amended or its very purpose will be lost.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has been run since late April this year by the Cricket Transformation Committee, following the resignation of Shammi Silva and his Ex-Co, stemming from persistent allegations of corruption plus record revenues not translating to results which brought about public pressure.

It was reported at the time that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had personally negotiated an amicable exit of Silva’s Ex-Co, with the Government having subtly framed it as voluntary resignation, so as not to risk an ICC ban following the nation’s suspension on political intervention three years before.

The nine-member Transformation Committee headed by Eran Wickramaratne (ex-MP, investment banker, Opposition SJB politician) was formed by the subject Minister, to address current issues and implement structural reforms, which Wickramaratne feels at best could take six month or more.

However, the ICC which does not accept interim arrangements in member nations has already barred Sri Lanka from its board meetings, and have punished the island nation by stripping it of hosting rights of the inaugural 2027 Women’s Champions Trophy and handing it to India.