Upul Tharanga to head new cricket selection committee: Harin ICC suspension to be lifted soon

By Yohan Perera

A new national cricket selection committee is to be appointed, headed by former Sri Lanka captain Upul Tharanga, Sports Minister Harin Fernando told Parliament yesterday.  
 Speaking during the committee stage debate on the budget, the Minister promised that Sri Lanka’s cricket crisis would end in the coming days.

“We have had discussions with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the latter had assured us that Sri Lanka’s suspension would end within the coming days,” the Minister said.
“The crisis would have been avoided if different methods were adopted when dealing with corruption in regard to SLC. The cricket issue was brought to Parliament by those who have ‘Aragala fever’. They are not genuinely interested in developing Sri Lankan cricket,” he claimed.

The Minister said anyone is free to file action against SLC officials including its President Shammi Silva for corruption.
“I would say that the Attorney General would also look into it,” he said in this regard.

If appointed, Tharanga will replace Pramodya Wickremesinghe, whose term was not extended following Sri Lanka’s poor Cricket World Cup campaign.

 Wickremesinghe was appointed to the role in 2021, and despite attempts by former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe to remove him last year, the Wickremesinghe-led panel continued until the World Cup.