One of the most illustrious sons of Sri Lanka cricket, Duleep Mendis may be out of his almost four decade association with the game as the SLC Interim Committee have requested him to retire. Mendis has been, the Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka Cricket for the past the past ten years in a span that begun on August 15, 2000.
SLC CEO asked to retire after four decades |
A well respected figure in the World cricket Community, the former national cricket captain led the country to their first ever Test win, when they beat India by 196 runs at the P. Sara Oval in August 1985. Besides, Mendis also has served the game in almost all possible capacities including the acting chairman for seven days.
Mendis an old boy of St. Sebastian’s College and S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, skippered both schools and also was the captain of the Sri Lanka Schools team before he went on to represent the country while still a schoolboy. Mendis who took over as Sri Lanka cricket captain with the Lankan rebel tour of South Africa by some of the national cricketers in 1982, hit a century in each innings when the country played their first Test match in India.
After representing in the inaugural Test against England at the Oval in 1982, Mendis went on to take over the national reins in 1982 from former skipper Bandula Warnapura.
The Interim Committee in a new move has made it mandatory for all its employees to retire on attaining the age of 55. At the same time Mendis who fell out of favour with the previous Arjuna Ranatunga administration was sidelined by the present administration where Arjuna’s brother Nishantha serves as the secretary. While Mendis was serving as the CEO, Ajit Jayasekera was brought into the management as the additional CEO.
Mendis who is still under SLC contract up to August 31, 2010, refused to comment on the issue, but admitted that he has received a letter to this effect.
When we asked the SLC Interim Committee secretary Nishantha Ranatunga about this move he said, “This was a recommendation made by Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA), which did a study of our organization recommended by former Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge ten months ago. One of their recommendations was to retire all those employees who are over 55 years of age. However we could re-employ them on contract basis upon request.”
When asked if they would offer a contract to Mendis, Ranatunga said, “He is most welcome to submit his application, and we would take it up at Interim Committee level.” |
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