Dammika Ranatunga sent on compulsory leave

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has sent its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dammika Ranatunga on compulsory leave and appointed former Sri Lanka captain Anura Tennekoon as acting CEO. The decision of the BCCSL's executive committee, which met on Tuesday, was a unanimous one and will become effective from Wednesday.

It was a sequel to the long drawn out battle between the CEO and the BCCSL hierarchy which has been raging on for the past few weeks.

Cricket Board sources said that a three-member committee would probe into the activities of the CEO beween June 11 (when the present Board assumed office) and Novemebr 14, 2000 and would report to the ExCo within a period of one month. Based on the report, the BCCSL will probably issue a 'show cause' notice to the CEO. Tennekoon was last month appointed cricket operations manager by the BCCSL, an area which was handled previously by the CEO.

Relationship between the CEO and the members of the BCCSL executive committee became strained after the CEO made a complaint to the Sports Minister regarding the handling of television rights for the next three years. The deal has not been finalised yet and is pending a report from the Attorney-General's department.

At a recent press conference, BCCSL president Thilanga Sumathipala openly criticised the conduct of the CEO and said that found it 'impossible' to work with him. He expressed disappointment that a colleague who is working with them had made a complaint of this nature without first bringing it to the notice of the Cricket Board members.