ICC CEO Geoff Allardice recently made a visit to Sri Lanka to engage in discussions with the country’s Sports Minister, Harin Fernando, and President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the future of suspended Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The suspension of SLC’s membership was imposed by the ICC in November 2023 due to perceived government interference, leading to Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights for the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup scheduled to commence on January 19 in South Africa.
During his visit, Allardice had a constructive conversation with Sports Minister Harin Fernando, as mentioned by Fernando on his social media platform. Subsequently, the ICC CEO met with President Wickremesinghe to explore potential modifications to the constitution of the Sri Lanka Cricket board.
Upon concluding his visit, Allardice will compile his observations and present them to the ICC board during its meeting at the end of March. The issue of SLC’s membership status will be a key agenda item during this meeting.
In the backdrop of these developments, Sri Lanka’s cricketing woes have been compounded by the team’s poor performance in the 2023 World Cup, particularly the embarrassing loss to India. This has led to public protests, with fans expressing dissatisfaction not only with the team’s on-field display but also with the alleged mismanagement within the cricket board and perceived government interference in cricket affairs.
The situation escalated on November 6, 2023, when the then Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe dismissed the entire cricket board. However, the Supreme Court swiftly intervened, overturning the decision the following day and issuing a stay order on the removal of the board, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing cricket governance crisis in Sri Lanka.
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