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The Sri Lankan Cricket team’s disappointing performance at the 2023 World Cup currently in its concluding stages in India has been overshadowed by the battle between Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe and the Sri Lankan Cricket Board headed by Shammi Silva.

The situation escalated when the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Friday evening that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had been suspended. “The ICC Board met today and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka,” the ICC said in a statement. “ 

The ICCs hurriedly-made ‘determination” followed a unanimous call by the Sri Lankan Parliament on Thursday for the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to step down.

Several noteworthy issues arise from these recent events. Firstly, the hasty decision by the ICC to suspend Sri Lanka Cricket raises questions about the information on which this determination was based. The ICC acted without giving Sri Lanka an opportunity to explain or contest the decision, prompting concerns about the accuracy of the information received.

This uncertainty is compounded by the fact that the ICC’s decision contradicts the actual legal status of Sri Lanka Cricket. Despite the Sports Minister’s attempt to appoint an Interim Committee, the Court of Appeal has halted its implementation, restoring the SLC to its position until the Court reaches a final decision on the matter which in effect means the status quo is restored. This raises doubts about the accuracy of the information provided to the ICC.

Adding to the intrigue, the ICC had allowed SLC Chairman Shammi Silva to participate in its meeting on Friday despite the suspension. The question also arises whether the SLC Chairman himself was a party to the ICC decision to suspend SLC since it was reported that the decision was made at Friday’s meeting.

Apart from this suspicious turn of events the ICC was well aware that serious allegations of impropriety and financial irregularities had been reported by the Auditor General against the ICC. Minister Roshan Ranasinghe himself has clearly stated that he has continuously kept ICC briefed with regard to the allegations of corruption that has been levelled against Sri Lanka Cricket.

The ICC’s unilateral suspension of SLC raises concerns about whether the ICC is downplaying corruption issues or, alternatively, signaling that such concerns are not a priority.

The broader issue highlighted by the SLC corruption saga is the pervasive nature of corruption in Sri Lanka’s public life. The allegations against SLC underscore the extent to which the corrupt are empowered and are able to prevent or stall action being taken against them as well as to even manipulate and mislead international bodies, diverting attention from their wrongdoings.

If one listened to the speeches made by the speakers in Parliament last week it was clear that although the motion moved in Parliament was proposed by the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and seconded by Government Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, there were many speakers from government ranks who were not too enthusiastic about taking action against SLC but only spoke in support of the motion because public opinion was against the SLC.

In fact some of them went to the extent of warning that the Sports Minister’s actions would only result in the ICC imposing a ban on Sri Lanka.

Since Sri Lanka’s World Cup victory in 1996, cricket administration has attracted individuals with questionable motives. The fact that Ana Punchihewa who chaired the Board at the time of the World Cup victory in 1996 was ousted from the position soon thereafter should have sent red alerts to the cricketing community.

In fact it was significant that the former Ministers of Sports who spoke at the debate in Parliament last week dwelled at length on the country’s achievements in sports under their respective tenures but never touched on any measures they had put in place to root out or prevent corruption in cricket.

Not many years ago the attempt to transfer into a private account in Hong Kong funds due to SLC on account of television rights was discussed at length in the media but whether any action was taken to correct this wrong is not known.

In the face of the unanimous motion adopted in Parliament last week, the honourable course of action for the SLC Board would be to step down and return to cricket administration after their names are cleared.

Such a step would not only be in their own interests but also in the larger interest of the game that has given so much joy and pride to the country in recent times.

Clearly much has to be done to clear up the mess in cricket very quickly. How much of it is due to the mis-steps of the administrators has to be studied and remedial action taken. The conducting of the Lanka Premier League shortly before the World Cup has been criticised for making Sri Lanka’s cricketers vulnerable to injuries at a time when they should be in peak condition. This seems a fair criticism even to the uninitiated.

But only a thorough diagnosis by cricketing experts will help restore whatever shortcomings there are in cricket administration. It will be prudent to appoint a Committee of such experts to chart a new course for Sri Lanka cricket. With the Chairman of Selectors of Sri Lanka Cricket Pramodya Wickremesinghe promising to reveal details of a conspiracy to weaken Sri Lanka Cricket, such a Committee will have their work cut out in the next few months.

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe deserves acknowledgment for courageously addressing corruption in SLC. Whether one agrees with his politics or not he has had the courage to not only speak out and take on the powerful in his crusade against corruption at SLC even risking his Cabinet portfolio in the process.

One can only lament that if there were more ministers who spoke up against recent mistakes in governance such as the decision to switch to organic fertilizer from chemical fertilizer overnight, the decision to cremate the bodies of COVID- 19 victims against the clear guidelines of the World Health Organisation as well as against the disastrous 20th Amendment to the Constitution, (to mention only a few), the Sri Lankan people may have been spared some of the misery they have had to encounter in recent times

. (javidyusuf@gmail.com)