Reality in hands of stakeholders ..

Both camps are optimistic of claiming victory and there appears to be no losers at the much awaited elections to the country’s richest sports body Sri Lanka Cricket which will be held at the Sports Ministry auditorium on Sunday at 10 am.

However the reality will be in the hands of the stakeholders who have mandated to vote for the most suitable candidate and their team and will wisely decide on the outcome.

As the present administration is run by an interim committee the Ministry of Sports will conduct the election under the supervision of its Director-General K.D.S. Ruwanchandra.

The two main contestants in the running for the presidency are former three-time president Thilanga Sumathipala who is also the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Nishantha Ranatunga, a former four-time secretary and present president of Colombo Colts CC. There is Sumith Perera, president of Badureliya SC who is also contesting for the post.

Following the court order all the nominees against whom objections were raised will be able to contest their respective posts.

Yesterday and today were crucial for both parties as there will be a lot of horse trading taking place till Saturday evening.

With the coming together of Jayantha Dharmadasa and Thilanga Sumathipala, two former rivals for the presidency in the past, the Sumathipala camp appears to have a strong stakeholder backing.

THILANGA SAYS

“I was vice president for three consecutive years 1995-1997 and contested the presidency three times and each time I won more than two-thirds of the membership supported me and my team,” said Sumathipala.

“At that time the only strong point was that Jayantha Dharmadasa’s supporters were not with me. Today he is also with me. I can’t see anybody who understands cricket and cricketing administration can even dream of coming closer to winning with our entire team.

“We are practical and have a pragmatic approach. We are definitely winning and there is no doubt about it. The stakeholders whom we have contacted have given us sufficient indication towards such a victory,” he said.

Sumathipala added that his top priority was to stabilize national cricket and to appoint a top level foreign coach to ensure sustainability to improve our international rankings and to achieve better results.

“With the exit of stars Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara there are youngsters who could perform but the lack of experience deprives them from performing at that level. They need guidance at international level. So getting a foreign coach is imperative,” said Sumathipala.

“Top priority will be given to national cricket and the appointment of a national coach to sustain our status in the international arena and give guidance to a number of promising youngsters to perform at the top level.

“I also plan to introduce a system to support the decentralisation of cricket in the districts by having a strong administrative and infrastructure base and also give maximum support to club cricket to enhance its status and quality so that domestic cricket becomes meaningful to cater to international cricket,” he said.

NISHANTHA SAYS

“I came forward basically because of the request we got from the membership who had appreciated the development work we had done and that we have done well in our cricket,” said Ranatunga.

“We were ranked first in T20s, second in Tests and third in ODIs at the time we were removed from the SLC. But during the last eight months the cricket has gone down and the stakeholders expected us to come up with a team to revive cricket.

“The majority of the members are supporting us and we are very confident of winning 96 plus seats out of the total voting strength of 147. I have been assured of this figure by the membership. We have spoken to them and they have assured us of their mandate,” he said.

Having been in cricket administration for quite a while Ranatunga said that he thought it was the right time for him to come forward to contest the post as president.

“Consideting my experience in the cricket arena I thought it was the right time. I have done enough for the game to get elected to that position,” Ranatunga said.

“People will analyse what we have done during the last few years. We have improved the revenue by 600 percent, our cricket has been taken to the highest level and during my term as secretary we have won one World Cup, been runner-up in two World Cups, beaten all the countries in their own soil and our cricket has gone to the top three positions in all three formats,” he said.

“Administratively we have good systems and procedures in place for Sri Lanka Cricket which shows the efficiency of its management.”

Ranatunga said that they have come up with a plan to develop school and club cricket which is the pinnacle of our cricket and a long term plan for district cricket.

He said that his elder brother Arjuna Ranatunga who is the Minister of Ports and Shipping coming forward to contest for one of the vice-presidency posts would strengthen them.

“More than the voting his presence will help Sri Lanka cricket. With his cricketing knowledge and commitment for cricket I am sure that will help us a lot.”

Ranatunga stated that he had no personal problems with the players although there were some misunderstandings.

“Some of them didn’t agree with the decisions we took. We never took individual decisions but did it with the best interest of Sri Lanka cricket and to look after the interest of the stake holders,” said Ranatunga.

“The finger was pointed at me because I was the person who communicated the decisions and as secretary that was part of my job.”

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NOMINATIONS FOR SRI LANKA CRICKET ELECTIONS

President (1 post)

Sumith Perera, Thilanga Sumathipala, Jayantha Dharmadasa, Nishantha Ranatunga.

Vice Presidents (2 posts)

Jayantha Dharmadasa, K Mathivanan, Shammi Silva, Asanga Seneviratne, Arjuna Ranatunga.

Secretary (1 post)

Mohan de Silva, Hirantha Perera

Assistant Secretary (1 post)

Ravin Wickremaratne, Nilantha Ratnayake

Treasurer (1 post)

Shammi Silva, Easman Narangoda

Assistant Treasurer (1 post)

Lalith Rambukwella, Aruna de Silva, Sujeewa Lokuhewa, Nihal Lewke

Sponsorship Committee (5 posts)

Matheesha Dharmasiri, Suresh Murugesar, Thushan Amarasuriya, LDA Weerasinghe, MH Jamaldeen, Sarath Abeysundara, Uvais Samsudeen, Roland Perera, TACD Silva

Tour Organising Committee (5 posts)

AHTWK Ariyawickrema, J Jayaweera, PHU Imalsha, Nimal Ekanayake, HA Ali, V Pradeepan, JHR Fernando, Chrishantha Kapuwatte, SKUR Seneviratne, OJ Pereira, DC Mahawattage, APSP de Vaas Gunawardena, MT Ajuman, Roshan Idamalgoda, CPL Gunawardena, A Hussain Ghany, Ashroff Ghany.

Tournament Committee (5 posts)

AA Wijaya de Silva, Bandula Dissanayake, Shammi Gunasekera, AMP de Alwis, Kasun Fernando, Marlon Fernandopulle, Manoja Kariyapperuma, WS Benito Abeysekera, Rizwan Badurdeen.

Umpires Committee (5 posts)

Mohamed Rafeel, Rupenath Wickremaratne, Wasanthalal Fernando, Lal Ranasinghe, AAW de Silva, Abu Siddeek, Deepal Madurapperuma, RM Rahman, Ishak Sahabdeen, Sanjaya Attanayake, Ashley Ratnayake, Saman Hewawitharana.