Sports

Despite a date still to be announced for the elections at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC),the stage is already set and the battle lines have already being drawn up for a bracing showdown between two powerful business personalities Jayantha Dharmadasa and Thilanga Sumathipala for the top most position at Sri Lanka Cricket.

Both camps are optimistic that the Ministry of Sports will make an announcement very shortly and elections will be held next month.

However former President Thilanga Sumathipala when contacted by The Sunday Times and asked if he would be coming forward as President said, “First and foremost there should be an election for me to come forward. There have only been promises in the last few months by the Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga that elections will be called”. When questioned further if he would contest the CB Presidency if elections are called Sumathipala responded instantaneously saying, “I will never come forward as long as Jeevan is the sports Minister. He has ruined all sports in this country including cricket. I am not prepared to contest if he is around. He will do the same thing that he has done to me in the past and it will only affect cricket and the players, so I will not come forward”.

In the event Sumathipala does not come forward The Sunday Times learns that another former CB President Mohan De Silva (who was replaced by the current interim committee) will be nominated from the Sumathipala camp. When contacted by The Sunday Times De Silva said that it is still too premature to name their nominee as a date has not been finalized for the elections, but confirmed that they will be definitely putting forward a team to contest.The Sumathipala camp, in recent times has either won the elections uncontested or has won them convincingly. Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunge and Clifford Ratwatte were two contestants who were defeated by Thilanga Sumathipala in past elections. Hence, the Sumathipala camp is confident that if elections are held victory is assured.

Meanwhile current Interim Committee President Jayantha Dharmadasa has confirmed that he will be contesting the elections together with his team. Speaking to The Sunday Times Dharmadsa expressed total confidence of winning at the elections. “I am 100% sure that I can win the elections, no matter who contests from the other side. The clubs are aware of what we have done in the past few months and how we have managed the affairs of the Cricket Board, hence I am confident of winning the elections”.

Dharmadasa is expected to have some current members of the interim administration along with some new faces in his team. However according to informed sources a former cricket board President has declined Dharmadasa’s invitation to come forward as a vice president.

Another interesting feature of the Dharmadasa-Sumathipala battle has been the fact that both camps have already begun questioning the validity of each others nomination. A clause in the SLC constitution is believed to be standing in Dharmadasa’s way while a sports law that was passed in parliament a few months ago is believed to be obstacle to Sumathiapals nomination. However there is no confirmation on both these matters.