Image Credit- X
In a quick visit aimed at better understanding the
political climate in Sri Lanka with regard to cricket administration, ICC CEO
Geoff Allardice met with the nation’s President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the
country’s new minister of sports. Sri Lanka Cricket was suspended by the
International Cricket Council (ICC) in November, and as a result, the nation
lost its privilege to host the Men’s Under-19 World Cup.
Following his meeting with Allardice, sports minister
Harin Fernando posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the pair had had a
“constructive discussion and a way forward for SLC”. Subsequent to
that meeting, Allardice had also met President Wickremesinghe, with whom he is
understood to have discussed potential changes to SLC’s constitution.
The ICC board is scheduled to convene at the end of
March, and Allardice will now present his findings to them. It seems probable
that the issue of SLC’s membership will be on the board’s agenda.
The official reason for the ICC’s suspension of SLC
was alleged government meddling. The judiciary, a separate branch of Sri
Lanka’s government, effectively overruled the previous sports minister Roshan
Ranasinghe’s attempt to remove the whole SLC board on November 6 by placing a
stay order on the minister’s gazette.
However, a few days later, SLC’s own officials—who
were then at major loggerheads with then-sports minister Ranasinghe—begged the
ICC board to suspend the organisation. They had asked for the suspension in an
effort to prevent more intervention.
Board members have been inwardly confident that SLC
will be reinstated as a full member at the upcoming board meeting since the
minister was fired and a new minister was appointed who they could work with.
An ICC executive is visiting Sri Lanka for the second
time to assess the extent to which cricket and politics are intertwined in that
country. Imran Khwaja, the ICC deputy chair, visited Sri Lanka in the middle of
2023 to look into possible government meddling. It is believed that Khwaja did
not find sufficient evidence to suspend the board at that time.