SLC reiterates commitment to January elections

Sri Lanka Cricket has reiterated its commitment to holding elections before the end of January next year, in the wake of the ICC's warning that "further non-compliance" could result in more sanctions.

SLC interim committee chairman Sidath Wettimuny, who recently attended the ICC annual conference as an observer, maintained that while the ICC had publicly urged SLC to hold elections before the end of October, that date served only as a soft deadline. Sports minister Navin Dissanayake had already said SLC elections would be held in January.

"Ideally the ICC would like us to have elections before October, but in a letter they've said that by the latest we must hold elections by the following meeting on January 26," Wettimuny said. "If we go beyond that, then we're getting into trouble. I don't think we should do that. If we do, they can then ask for an inquiry and take the next step.

"We must make sure we don't let them down, because we have promised to do things in a certain way. We have an excellent relationship with ICC and we must continue that."

Wettimuny said SLC had also extended invitations to ICC president Zaheer Abbas, and chairman N Srinivasan, ostensibly in order to iron out kinks in the board's relationship with ICC.

SLC also expressed protest at their observer status in ICC meetings, arguing that the governing body's constitution does not allow it to deny Full Members voting rights. However, in the interests of keeping the peace, SLC has so far been willing to accept its reduced role in global cricket governance.