Sri Lanka's cricket crisis

Cricket is Sri Lanka's universal game and almost nothing gets in the way of it, whether it is played in the street or at the Kettarama Stadium. In 2007 the Tamil Tigers even declared a ceasefire throughout the World Cup. But the national team's recent loss of form, combined with endless tribulations off the pitch, has plunged many fans into gloom.

... Speaking to the BBC this week, Mr Aluthgamage denied interfering. "If there is politics in cricket, in the past World Cup Sanath Jayasuriya should have been in the team. Because he's a member of parliament and he was in our party ... Yet for 12 years the game has been run by politically appointed, unelected committees, something that will only change with board elections in January as demanded by the International Cricket Council.