ICC Board lifts suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket

The ICC Board has lifted the provisional suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) with immediate effect, a statement from the body on Sunday evening said.

SLC was suspended on November 10 for being in "serious breach of its obligations as an ICC Member". Specifically, this had to do with "the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka".

The ICC Board said it had been monitoring the situation since the suspension and "are now satisfied that SLC are no longer in breach of membership obligations".

The lifting of the suspension had been somewhat expected since Sri Lanka's president sacked sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe in late November. It had been with Ranasinghe that SLC's top brass had had a feud lasting over a year. Since the new sports minister, Harin Fernando, was installed, it had seemed likely that SLC were more amenable to having their suspension lifted. In fact, ICC CEO Geoff Allardice had met with Fernando and Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickramasinghe this month.

Fernando had also said in the days before this ICC announcement that he expected a change in Sri Lanka's status at the ICC.

When the suspension was announced, it was understood to be a warning to Sri Lanka, and ESPNcricinfo had reported that the SLC itself had requested the suspension to illustrate to Sri Lanka's government that the ICC would not tolerate further meddling on its part.

In the aftermath of the suspension, the men's Under-19 World Cup, which is currently on, was shifted from Sri Lanka to South Africa. That aside, there was no immediate implication on the daily running of cricket in Sri Lanka, and the ICC Board had agreed that cricket at all levels, including any bilateral and domestic series and tournaments, would not be disrupted by the suspension. As for the ICC annual funding, that would be controlled until the suspension is lifted. Since then, Sri Lanka have hosted Zimbabwe for a white-ball series, in early 2024.

In early November, Ranasinghe had sacked the SLC Board and installed an interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, but Sri Lanka's courts reinstated the board a day later by issuing a 14-day stay order on the gazette that had dissolved the board.

When the ICC suspension came, it was the elected SLC Board that was running cricket in the country.

SLC had become the second Full Member to be suspended by ICC in the recent past after Zimbabwe Cricket was suspended in 2019 for similar reasons.