De Mel wins yo-yo contest

The incumbent chief selector Asantha de Mel finally has won his yo-yo contest against the interim committee. The SLCIC is to submit a fresh list of names to the minister of sports Gamini Lokuge this week for ratification. Earlier the Cricket Interim Comittee submitted a list of names omitting Asantha de Mel’s name. This prompted the minister to give a two month extension to the selection committee which comprised Asantha De Mel, Don Anurasiri, Amal Silva and Shabir Asgerally. Once again at the end of the extension period the Interim Committee forwarded another list of ten names which contained ten names sans de Mel’s name to the minister. The minister rejected the fresh list and sent it back to the Interim Committee to forward list once again including De Mel’s name.

The Interim Committee will make their final decision tomorrow. However it is interesting to see as to whose name will be omitted from the final list which now reads as -- Don Anurasiri, Shabir Asgerally, Amal Silva, Jayantha Seneviratne, Mahesh Gunatilleke, Flavian Aponso, Graeme Labrooy, Ashley de Silva, Ranil Abeynaike and Ranjith Madurasinghe.

The new SLCIC who met for the first time yesterday, also decided to make a change in the position of trainer of the Sri Lanka team. Now J.H. Roberts from Queensland Australia will replace the present trainer C.J. Clarke. They also ratified the name of assistant coach Paul Farbrace.