Sports Ministry prepared to help cash crisis

The Sri Lankan Sports Ministry has reacted to the news that Thilanga Sumathipala had successful frozen the bank accounts of the Cricket Board by promising to fund the board from it's own coffers.

Dr Prathap Ramanujan, the Sports Ministry Secretary and a member of the Interim Committee, told the Daily Mirror that the Ministry would finance the Cricket Board if the court ruling secured yesterday prevented the Interim Committee from accessing the accounts. He admitted that it would be a burden but was confident that the necessary funding could be found.

The Interim Committee, headed by Vijaya Malalsekera, met last night to discuss the developments. No formal statement was offered to the media, but Asantha de Mel denied that High Courts decision would be a hindrance in an interview with the Daily Mirror.

"This injunction has been imposed on the Cricket Board accounts and not on the Interim Committee or its activities," he said. "We have been appointed to develop cricket in this country and we will continue to do it."

Thilanga Sumathipala defended his decision to seek an injunction, which froze the board's bank accounts. "I wrote to the Cricket Board and the banks appealing to them not to transact with board funds, but there was no response and I had no choice but to seek court action to protect the rights of the BCCSL membership," he said last night.

Sumathipala maintains that he will not stand for the Presidency again, but he continues to fight hard for control of the most powerful sports body in the country. He believes it is time for the Sports Minister, Lakshman Kiriella, to revoke his decision to dissolve the Cricket Board and replace the Interim Committee with an elected membership.