Sri Lanka: Mendis retained as chairman (14 May 1998)

Thursday 14, May 1998

Mendis retained as chairman

by SA'ADI THAWFEEQ

Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake retained Duleep Mendis as chairman in announcing a reduced four-man cricket selection committee yesterday.

Mendis was last week replaced as manager of the Sri Lanka team and there was speculation whether he would continue as a selector. Mendis served in both capacities for over a year.

The revamped selection committee comprises: Duleep Mendis (chairman), Ashantha de Mel, T. B. Kehelgamuwa and K. M. Nelson with provision for a fifth selector to be named by the Executive Committee of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.

The fifth selector will be picked from the five regional selectors which the Cricket Board hopes to appoint shortly from Colombo, Badulla, Galle, Kandy and Dambulla.

The Cricket Board has plans to appoint junior cricket selectors in the regions to enable them to pick talent from the outstations. The appointments will be finalised at the next Cricket Board ExCo meeting on May 30.

By naming four selectors in the committee, the Sports Minister is falling in line with the Cricket Board constitution. Last year he named a committee comprising seven selectors.

However, with the Cricket Board hierarchy stressing that coaches should not be selectors due to conflict of interests, the panel has been reduced by three.

The three who don't figure in the current panel are Roy Dias, who is the new national coach, Saliya Ahangama, who by virtue of his position of secretary of the Board is anyway represented in the selection committee and, Somachandra de Silva, who is a professional cricket coach.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)