The report addressing issues in Sri Lanka’s cricket realm, prepared by the Cabinet Sub-Committee, was presented to President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (1). Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, who chairs the committee, handed over the report.
Notably, this report was swiftly completed within a brief span of one-and-a-half months following the establishment of the Cabinet Sub-Committee.
In accordance with the Cabinet decision made on November 6, the Cabinet Sub-Committee, chaired by Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, included other members: Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles and Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara.
President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, appointed the Additional Secretary to the President, Loshini Peiris, as the Secretary/Convener of the committee. The committee promptly initiated an investigation into the current situation of Sri Lankan cricket by engaging with relevant parties.
The report addresses the following issues:
· The composition and structure of Sri Lanka Cricket and proposals for reforms.
· The framework for administering, coaching and overall well-being of cricket players at different levels including the national teams for men and women, the Under-19 and Under-17 age groups.
· Appropriate good governance and best practices that can be adopted to guarantee transparency, professionalism and accountability in the system benchmarking with well-functioning comparative system in test playing countries.
· Revamping the feeding structure of Sri Lanka Cricket namely schools, district, provincial and club level cricket embracing meritocracy, equality and equity.
The committee has resolved to concentrate on the four identified areas.
To comprehensively analyze the root causes of the present crisis, a thorough examination will involve key stakeholders. These include the current Sports Minister Harin Fernando, former Sports Ministers, State Ministers for Sports, Secretary of the Ministry of Sports, Sri Lanka Cricket, coaches of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team (Women’s/Men’s), umpires, cricket selecting committee, coaches of the Under-19 cricket team, technical advisory committee, members of the current cricket team led by Vanidu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka Umpires Association, Sri Lanka Bar Association, Audit and Accounting institutes, and the committee led by retired Supreme Court Judge K.T. Chitrasiri, which has incorporated recommendations following an investigation of the opinions of the Auditor General, among others.
Attorneys-at-law Shamir Zavahir and Samhan Munzir have made invaluable contributions to the preparation of the report and research. Additionally, the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Presidential Secretariat played a crucial role in providing special support for this endeavour.
Upon accepting the report, President Ranil Wickremesinghe conveyed his commitment to implementing the recommendations outlined in the report. He also expressed his intention to present both this report and the draft of the new Sports Act to Parliament in the near future.
The President extended his appreciation to the Cabinet Sub-Committee for the prompt presentation of the report.
Assistant Secretary to the President, Samith Talakiriya, was also in attendance at this significant event.
