From one interim administration to another
Compiled by Tariq Engineer
05-Jul-2011
Kumar Sangakkara's speech at the 2011 Cowdrey Lecture contained a remarkable criticism of Sri Lanka's cricket administration, which he called devoid of accountability and transparency and caught in a "mad" power struggle. "Presidents and elected executive committees would come and go; government-picked interim committees would be appointed and dissolved." At the end of June 2011, Sri Lanka's sports ministry dissolved SLC's interim committee following allegations of financial mismanagement and appoints a panel for six months. Then in November the same year, the ministry announced it's intentions to hold elections for the first time since 2004, and dissolved the panel it had appointed in June. Here is a chronology of events:
March 2001
Lakshman Kiriella, minister of tourism and sports, appoints a five-man interim committee headed by Vijaya Malalasekera to look after the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka after Thilanga Sumathipala's board stands down in the wake of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities.
April 2002
Sports minister Johnston Fernando appoints a new 10-member interim committee, chaired by Hemaka Amarasuriya for a period of one year after the previous committee's term ends.
However, four members of the committee resign a month later in protest of the government's decision to appoint Sumathipala as the standby for the ICC executive board meeting to be held in London in June.
June 2003
Elections are held after two years and Sumathipala returns as president of the board.
April 2004
Mohan de Silva is elected uncontested as Sri Lanka Cricket's new president after Sumathipala pulls out, being in police custody at the time. de Silva says that the first task of his administration is to restore credibility to the controversy-plagued sports body. "It is very important to have stability to rebuild the image of the board," he says. "We need stability, transparency, accountability and proper good governance."
March 2005
The government takes over the management of Sri Lankan cricket, preventing the annual general election from going ahead. Jeevan Kumaratunga, the sports minister, justifies the move on financial and administrative grounds, claiming "wastages" and "no accountability". An interim committee led by Jayantha Dharmadasa is appointed to look after the board's management.
However, the outgoing committee refuses to give the new committee access to the board headquarters, claiming it as their own, and the sports minister finally has to send in police armed with automatic weapons to physically takeover the cricket board premises.
July 2006
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, orders that elections to the Sri Lankan board be cancelled.
January 2008
Arjuna Ranatunga is appointed the new interim committee chairman by Rajapaksa after Dharmadasa resigns for personal reasons.
December 2008
Ranatunga is sacked as chairman and the interim committee is dissolved by then sports minister Gamini Lokuge who appoints the sports secretary, S Liyanagama, as a competent authority to oversee the administration.
March 2009
A new interim committee, chaired by former cricketer DS de Silva, is appointed by the Rajapaksa government.
July 2011
Sri Lanka's sports ministry dissolves SLC's interim committee and appoints a panel, headed by former SLC chairman Upali Dharmadasa, for the next six months.
November 2011
The sports minister issues a notification dissolving the panel in appointed in June and names the sports ministry secretary to oversee the day to day operations of SLC until elections are held.
Tariq Engineer is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo