Cricket’s squabbles that tarnish the game - EDITORIAL

Cricket has the power to unite; but as of today it is valid from the perspective of the country’s citizens and not from the context of the people who walk on the corridors of power.
Die hard cricket fans can be seen at the doorstep at SLC on most days protesting against the manner in which cricket is administered in the country and demanding lawmakers to intervene and put the cricket board in order. The mess cricket in Sri Lanka is in has reached stinking levels with a move taken by the Sports Minister to install an Interim Cricket Administration backfiring due to a grieved party obtaining three Interim Stay Orders. 
One of the Stay Orders prevents the interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga from functioning.

At the time of writing this editorial, there is a debate taking place in Parliament where political party representatives are attempting to move a joint resolution to remove the elected office bearers serving Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe and SLC officials are at loggerheads at a crucial time when Sri Lanka is set to host the Under 19 World Cup in 2024. Sports lovers know that the ICC is not in favour of Interim Committees that replace democratically elected office bearers of national sports bodies; even if such moves are backed by the country’s sports law.

Sri Lanka has to put in order at least four playing venues for this big event, but there is speculation that certain cheques prepared in favour of meeting the expenses of ongoing work at these stadiums might not be available to settle payments to service providers to due to the present squabble between Ranasinghe and SLC’s elected Executive Committee members and certain stagnating issues that critics predict the island’s cricket administrators would face in the future by annoying the ICC.
Just for the record, the ICC refused to disburse funds owed to SLC in 2014-15 when the latter was run by an interim administration. 

The ICC held these funds in escrow until proper cricket board elections were held. And not only that the ICC demoted SLC to ‘Observer Status’ during this period when there were ICC board meetings for member nations. The SLC and the Sports Minister must take note that if the present cricket crisis is not resolved immediately the island’s cricket administration-that esteemed sports establishment which was once served by gentlemen with a high pedigree in cricket-runs the risk of being dumped into a ‘leper colony’. 
Not many years ago there were accusations that among the SLC’s hierarchy was an individual who had links to the betting industry. Even now, the present Sports Minister has openly made a similar statement in Parliament about an elected member of SLC’s Executive Committee. 

Hence we thought that SLC was ‘once’ an esteemed institute where its administration was handled by ‘gentlemen’.
Sri Lankan cricket fans are confused about who actually runs cricket in the country at present because there is a Sports Minister, SLC’s elected officials, an interim committee, which is prevented from taking over cricket administration and a committee headed by Justice K.T Chitrasiri; whose committee is tasked with introducing a new constitution to SLC through the Parliamentary Act. 

Then there is also a Cabinet Sub-committee comprising Foreign Minister Ali Sabry and President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, who were appointed to resolve cricket issues at SLC.
It would be helpful for all these stakeholders of the game to recall the long journey Sri Lanka has made in cricket from the day Colombo Cricket Club was formed in 1832 for the purpose of playing the game at official level, received Test status in 1981, won its maiden Test match in 1985 against India and then lifted the World Cup in 1996.
The ICC World Cup is still in progress in India and our own representative team, are taking part in the event. It is only just that the SLC and the Minister resolve their running battle and lift the morale of the players who are struggling to find form in India.