Selection of selectors yet in shambles

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials are kicking their heels in desperation as the deadline for naming the 15-man squad for the inaugural ICC twenty-20 tournament is fast approaching while the country is without a proper National Selection Committee.

After the term of the Selection Committee ended last month Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge selected five names from the list of ten names nominated by the SLC Executive Committee. They were Ashantha de Mel, Don Arunasiri, Ranjith Madurusinghe, Mahesh Gunathilake and Ranil Abeynaike.

However within a matter of a few hours Abeynaike’s name was deleted due to his role as a Television Commentator and his links to the Media. Gunathilake informed SLC that he is not prepared to accept an “honorary position” as a selector. These developments reduced the number of selectors to three. One of the selectors, Don Arunasiri, is currently in England with the Sri Lanka A team. The names which still left in the names forwarded to the Sports Ministry are – Graeme Labrooy, Amal Silva, Ashley de Silva, Shabir Asgerally, Flavian Aponso while Jayantha Seneviratne was earlier dropped to accommodate Ashantha de Mel in the final list.

Sri Lanka have named a squad of 30 players for the twenty-20 World Cup and are required to name their final 15 players before August 10. A high-ranking official of SLC speaking to The Sunday Times last evening said they were expecting the Minister to inform SLC about the fourth selector by Friday evening. However, no response was received. The SLC now expects the Sports Minister to send the name by Monday and the new selection committee is scheduled to meet at least by Tuesday to select the 15-member squad for the ICC Twenty-20 World Cup. The deadline set by the ICC for naming the squads is August 10.

Mubarak to lead Sri Lanka A
Meanwhile 26 year old Jehan Mubarak who was adjudged Man of the Match in the 3rd one day International between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was picked to lead Sri Lanka A for the forthcoming Triangular Limited over tournament featuring India A and Kenya. The tournament which is scheduled to begin in August will be played in Kenya.

The Sri Lanka A team which is currently touring England will directly go to Kenya while Mubarak together with Chamara Kapugedara and Sujeewa Silva are expected to leave the island later this week to join their team mates in Kenya. Mubarak and Kapugedara were a part of the initial Sri Lanka A team that was in England. However the duo returned to the island after they were picked to represent the national team in the three One dayers against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka A teams’ current skipper Tilan Samaraweera, Micheal Van Dort, Kanchana Gunawardene and Charith Sylvester will return to the island at the end of the England tour.

ICL to be banned?
Meanwhile SLC Interim committee is very likely to follow-suit with their neighbours India and Pakistan in banning any Lankan cricketers who sign-up the Indian Cricket League when they have their customary meeting tomorrow.