Sri Lanka suspended by International Cricket Council Board due to government interference
The International Cricket Council Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership of the ICC with immediate effect.
The ICC Board met on Friday and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a member and, in particular, “the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka”.
The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC, with the board set to meet on November 21, after which the future course of action is expected to become clearer.
Sky Sports News understands that on Monday, Sri Lanka’s sports minister sacked the entire cricket board and installed an interim committee led by World Cup winner Arjuna Ranatunga. However, it also contained two sons of politicians.
On Tuesday, this interim committee was struck down by the courts with the old board reinstated.
Under Sri Lanka’s own sports law, the government has the power to dissolve the governing body of any sport. However, ICC has taken a dim view on this in the past, stretching back to 2014 when Sri Lanka’s government last appointed a committee.
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka Cricket released a statement denying government accusations that they had mishandled preparations for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, due to take place in January 2024. On Thursday, they released a further statement denying accusations of transferring $2m from its accounts to third party accounts.
In July 2019, the ICC suspended Zimbabwe from all forms of cricket over concerns of government interference in the running of the game, lifting the ban nearly three months later following meetings with the country’s government and Zimbabwe Cricket.
Sri Lanka are also scheduled to tour England next summer for a three-Test series.
Sri Lanka’s World Cup ends with a whimper
Sri Lanka have been participating at the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India, but they lost their final group game to New Zealand by five wickets on Wednesday, placing them ninth in the table after only two wins in nine.
Barring heavy defeats for either England, against Pakistan, or for Bangladesh against Australia – both games being played on Saturday – Sri Lanka are likely to stay in the bottom two of the table and outside of the top-eight qualification spots for the 2025 Champions Trophy, another ICC event.
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Highlights as England suffer an eight-wicket hammering at the hands of Sri Lanka in Bangalore
Sri Lanka’s two wins in the tournament came against the Netherlands and defending champions England, as Jos Buttler’s side suffered a shock eight-wicket defeat in Bangalore after being bowled out for 156.
In a later defeat to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews suffered the dubious honour of becoming the first player to be timed out in international cricket when Shakib-Al-Hasan appealed that he was not ready to face his first delivery within the required two minutes after coming out to bat.
Mathews, who put the delay down to a strap on his helmet being broken, branded Shakib’s actions as “disgraceful” and accused the Bangladesh captain and his team of bringing the game into disrepute.
