SLC Management Committee to prioritise transparency during six-week term

By Amindha de Alwis

The newly appointed five-member Management Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will direct their focus primarily on the accounting and legal side of things during their short six-week tenure which will extend up until the SLC elections on May 20.

“There is only so much you can do in a six-week period but I have been given an excellent team with different skill-sets and the main thing would be, to the best of our ability, to try to streamline the accounts and the legal part and be more transparent. We want to open out things and we have no agenda; we will show it how it is,” President of the Committee Prof. Arjuna de Silva said.

Speaking on the Sri Lanka national team’s next assignment which is an inbound series with Bangladesh, de Silva said that the matches will be worked off sans-spectators as was case during the recent series with England as well as last year’s Lanka Premier League.

“Spectators will not be permitted inside the stadium for this series, but we do anticipate that a limited number of spectators will be allowed in for matches further ahead,” he mentioned.

De Silva did however reveal that players in the National side will have the option of receiving the Covid-19 vaccine prior to the two-Test series.

“We intend to have the team vaccinated on April 11. We have received permission from the Health Ministry to do so. Players will be given the option of receiving the vaccine on the 11th or after the tour in May. We know that young people like those in the team usually come up with a fever after being vaccinated and can have a reaction for about two days. So, since it may pose an issue towards being able to play competitively soon afterwards, those who so wish can take the vaccine after the series is done,” de Silva stated.

Veteran batsman Angelo Mathews who pulled out of the tour of West Indies to “attend a family matter” is expected to be available for the series with Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka will however most likely miss the services of left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya who picked up a thigh injury during the second Test versus the West Indies and was subsequently stretchered off the field.

Meanwhile, Aravinda de Silva, Chairman of SLC’s Cricket Committee stated that the latest list of National player contracts has almost been finalised and can be expected to be signed in the near future.

“We have almost finalised the contracts. I am sure the new committee will want to run through the contracts before they are signed and the players who have just returned will also have to do so as they may have their concerns.”

“Also, we thought it might be useful to have an arbitrator between the players and the cricket board – an independent person to sit and evaluate whatever concerns each party has on a contract for the future which I think is something we need to seriously look at so we let the players focus on their cricket and not have to worry about contracts in the midst of the cricket season,” he said.