Cricket: New Sports Minister set to meet SLC top guns

Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake will meet the Sri Lanka Cricket hierarchy on Monday (2) at 10.00am with a set of strict guidelines which they will have to follow.   The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Times said that initially he wants to have a general discussion about the game of cricket in the country and then gradually get on to more serious affairs.   “I want to set a few guidelines that they should follow. This is not an exercise to promote favourites, but a serious effort to get an even flow. I would go through the accounts system and administrative functions and then set the guidelines. As long the guidelines are adhered to, I will not interfere in their matters, but, if the rules are broken I would have to get though at this end.”   As result of the three stadiums at Hambantota, Pallekelle and Khettarama built and revamped for the 2011 World Cup Sri Lanka Cricket is in the red and still owes the government large sums of money, which the cricket board expects the government to foot.   However the biggest thorn in the smooth functioning of the process has been the feud between its President Jayantha Dharmadasa and Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga.   Once it reached to crisis proportions that the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to intervene and bring peace between the feuding parties.