Cricket: Thilanga and Nishantha to contest at SLC elections

Pocket meetings, group discussions and animated telephone conversations and various other means of exchanges of views are the order of the day. Reason -- Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera has fixed the date for Sri Lanka Cricket elections on January 3 and the nominations will be opened from Tuesday till December 4, with 86 stakeholders voting to elect 147 cricket administrators. 

During the past two weeks, there were labour pangs with interested parties judiciously planting stories which they thought would favour their respective convictions. 

From Tuesday it would be crunch time and in all probabilities the full lists may not come till the last minute. Nevertheless, the race is certainly on. 

Ironically, most of the jars are still full of old wine -- may be with new decorations.

Interestingly, one of the contestants would be Thilanga Sumathipala, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, making a run for the post after his botched attempt for the top post in 2007. 

At that time the then Sports Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga pulled the plug with the formation of an Interim Committee that ruled the roost till 2011 under various guises.

Even in 2007, the Interim Committee was formed amid corruption allegations that were never substantiated. 

On April 1 this year, once again there Interim Committee cavalcade on show when the then Sports Minister, Navin Dissanayake, thwarted SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga’s bid to move up as president.

There the then Sports Minister was probing allegations of corruption which took place at the SLC between January 2012 and April 2015. 

This probe also ended up as damp squib. 

However, one of the biggest upsets in this year’s contest is former SLC president Mohan de Silva’s change of allegiance. 

Seen as a close supporter of Nishantha Ranatunga till recently, de Silva will this time support his longtime ally Sumathipala. 

De Silva explained that his alliance with Sumathipala was always there and while working with Ranatunga he was working under certain policies, but, now his old ally is back on stage to contest for the presidency he would contest for the post of secretary. 

Sumathipala would also have the support of the Immediate Past President Jayantha Dharmadasa.

For the two posts of vice presidents, the names of K. Mathivanan, Shammi Silva, Michael de Zoysa are being floated while former treasurer and present interim committee member Nuski Mohammed also will be lined up for an important portfolio.  

As expected, Ports Minister and World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga would be a top contender for the post of vice president in the team led by presidential aspirant Nishantha Ranatunga. 

Arjuna Ranatunga has to serve the executive committee for two years before he could contest for the position of president. 

The other top names in the Nishantha camp are – former SLC President Upali Dharmadasa, Bloomfield president Hirantha Perera and former SLC vice president Asanga Seneviratne.

Both camps are promising a vibrant domestic structure if they are elected to office.

The Sumathipala camp is expected to continue with most of the features that were adopted by the present Interim Committee. 

The Zonal Tournament which was launched by the Interim Committee would be continued and it is expected that former National captains Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara and the incumbent Interim Committee chairman Sidath Wettimuny would play key roles in the process. 

The Ranatunga camp will put a lot of emphasis on good governance with the active participation of the stakeholders rather than paying attention on individual members. 

They also hope to distribute the income among the stakeholders in a fair manner for the betterment of the game with much accent being laid for the uplift of the school segment – the pet subject of Arjuna Ranatunga.