If the frequency by which Sri Lankan politicians publicly voice their opinion on the ongoing cricket board crisis is considered a barometer of their perceived interest in its management, then the dream of an apolitical cricket administration appears a distant dream.
UNP Parliamentarian Daham Wimalasena has become the latest politician to make his feelings known on the issue. In the government sponsored Daily News he is reported to have commended Laksman Kiriella's decision to dissolve the cricket board by stating: "The Minister's decision is a wise move for the betterment of the game."
He is also quoted as saying that the present Interim Committee should continue until the next World Cup in 2003.
Indeed, the Sports Minister has welded together a coalition of cross party support for the cricket board's dissolution. The original decision is even rumoured to have been initiated by President Chandrika Kumaratunge herself.
The Sports Minister also garnered the support of the main opposition leader, Ranil Wickramasinghe, and Tyronne Fernando, a UNP Parliamentarian and a former chief of the cricket board.
In an article in the government sponsored Sunday Observer the Sports Minister is quoted as saying: "In sports, we are united, even in Parliament. Ranil Wickramasinghe and Tyronne Fernando asked me to go ahead in dissolving the cricket board if I thought it had to be done for the good of the sport."
Despite the fact that Thilanga Sumithipala, the former head of the cricket board and an influential businessman in Sri Lanka, is thought to have supported PA in the last Presidential elections, he has so far received little political support in the media.
© CricInfo
| Teams | Sri Lanka. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Results - Forthcoming Desktop Scoreboard |
|
|
|
||||||
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
