Green light for Thilanga Sumithapala in Sri Lankan Board elections

Thilanga Sumathipala has faced many hurdles in his quest to become President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) but has finally been given the green light to stand in Sunday's annual general meeting and is now widely tipped to win.

Milton Amarasinghe, who is Director of the Department for Sports and Development and is in charge of this election, yesterday stated: " In considering all material placed before me with regard to the objections against the candidates who tendered their nominations for the above election, I hereby decide to object all objections with regard to nominations."

The announcement follows correspondence between the International Cricket Council and the BCCSL in which the General Manager of the ICC, Mr R.M.G. Hill, states: "If an individual has been associated with the gambling or the betting industry but has severed those connections and wishes to seek election as an officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, he will not be disbarred and/or disqualified from doing so on 11th June 2000 solely by reason of the fact the ICC Executive Board passed the Resolution."

The letter also indicates that the ICC Executive Resolution is unlikely to remain in its present form after the full meeting of the ICC at the end of the month and that it's implementation will require changes to the ICC Articles of Association.

Thilanga also won two domestic courtroom battles yesterday. In the first the Colombo District Court refused to issue an enjoining order preventing Mr Sumithapala from contesting. The order had been sought by the President of Badureliya Cricket Club, Mr Sumith Perera, who has also been nominated for the Presidency.

In the second case the court of appeal rejected another petition that challenged the voting rights of several district associations.

If Sumathipala becomes the BCCSL President he has promised to implement an ambitious national cricket development plan with the stated goal of making Sri Lanka the best test nation in the world. The plan includes the pursuit of a world test championship, the negotiation of more foreign tours, the upgrading of domestic cricket venues, the establishment of two cricket academies and the sustained development of grass roots cricket in outstation areas.