Sri Lanka Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket

Sport	Cricket
Jurisdiction	Sri Lanka
Abbreviation	SLC
Founded	30 June 1975 (1975-06-30)
Affiliation	International Cricket Council
Affiliation date	21 July 1981 (1981-07-21)
Regional affiliation	Asian Cricket Council
Affiliation date	19 September 1983 (1983-09-19)
Headquarters	Sinhalese Sports Club
Location	35 Maitland Place, Colombo 7
President	Shammi Silva (disputed)
Secretary	vacant
Men's coach	Chris Silverwood
Women's coach	Hemantha Devapriya
Other key staff	Ashley de Silva (CEO) Jerome Jayaratne (COO)
Operating income	රු.4,309 million (2020)
Sponsor	ITW Global Sony Pictures Networks Moose Clothing Amul Masuri My Cola Nawaloka Hospital The IPG Group Cycle Incense life bottled water Crystal Bottled Drinking Water
Replaced	Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL)
Official website
srilankacricket.lk

Sri Lanka Cricket, abbreviated as SLC, is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports as the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka on 30 June 1975 as a national sports body. The board was renamed in 2003.

The SLC operates all of the Sri Lankan national representative cricket sides, including the Men's, Women's and Under-19 sides. The SLC is also responsible for organising and hosting Test tours and one day internationals with other nations, and scheduling the home international fixtures.

Sri Lanka's sports minister sacked the national cricket board over allegations of corruption. Arjuna Ranatunga, the 1996 World Cup-winning skipper, then headed a new interim board with a seven-member panel. This move followed the resignation of the board's secretary, sparking public protests. Ranasinghe accused the board of corruption and sought support from the International Cricket Council (ICC). Sri Lanka, the World Cup winners in 1996, blamed the board for declining standards. Anti-corruption laws were introduced in 2019 due to concerns about corruption in Sri Lankan cricket. Again on 7 November 2023, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, which had been dismissed, was reinstated as per a court ruling. This action was prompted by a petition submitted by the board's president. The court specified that the reinstatement of the Sri Lanka board will be in effect for a duration of two weeks.

On 10 November the ICC suspended SLC for failing to meet "the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration". The International cricket council lifted the ban with immediate effect on January 28th 2024, after the ICC Board was satisfied that SLC are no longer in breach of membership obligations.

History

Main article: History of cricket in Sri Lanka

Cricket was brought to the nation when it was colonized by the British. As everywhere that the British arrived in numbers, cricket soon followed and it is reasonable to assume that the game was first played on the island by 1800. The earliest definite mention of cricket in Ceylon was a report in the Colombo Journal on 5 September 1832 which called for the formation of a cricket club. The Colombo Cricket Club was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1833 when it played against the 97th Regiment.

Throughout the 20th century, the game became increasingly popular in Sri Lanka. It was in the 1975 inaugural Cricket World Cup that they made their international debut. They lost to the West Indies by 9 wickets. They did however turn heads at the same tournament with an excellent display in their match against Australia. The national team won the ICC Trophy in 1979. On 21 July 1981, Sri Lanka was admitted to full membership of the ICC and was awarded Test Match status. The inaugural Test was played at the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo in February 1982 against England but Sri Lanka lost by 8 wickets. Sri Lanka won the 1996 Cricket World Cup by defeating Australia. Sri Lanka won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 by defeating India.

Domestic competitions

Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions in the country:

• Lanka Premier League
• Lanka T10
• Premier Trophy
• Premier Limited Overs Tournament
• Primer Twenty20 Tournament
• National Super League 4Day
• National Super League One Day
• National Super League Twenty20

They also organize and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament, a competition focusing on provincial-level teams with pooled talent rather than on individual cricket clubs.

Leadership

Presidents

Name	Tenure
Ceylon Cricket Association (1914–1948)
Col. Dr. John R. Rockwood	1914–1933
Edwin M. Karunaratne	1933–1934
Chandrarajan Sivasaravanamuttu	1937–1948
Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon (1948–1972)
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu	1948–1950
A. E. Christoffelsz	1950–1952
Junius Richard Jayewardene	1952–1955
Lt. Col. Sabdharatnajyoti Saravanamuttu	1955–1956
Robert Senanayake	1956–1972
Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (1972–2000)
Sai Senanayakerajah	1972–1976
Maj. Gen. Bertram Heyn	1976–1978
Dr. N. M. Perera	1978–1979
T. B. Werapitiya	1979–1981
Gamini Dissanayake	1981–1989
Lakshman Jayakody	1989–1990
Manane Chandrarajah	1990–1991
Tyronne Fernando	1991–1994
Anandarajasingh Punchihewa	1995–1996
Upali Dharmadasa	1996–1998
Thilanga Sumathipala	1998–1999
Rienzie Wijetilleke	1999–2000
Thilanga Sumathipala	2000–2001
Vijaya Malalasekera	2001–2002
Hemaka Amarasuriya	2002–2003
Sri Lanka Cricket (2003 – present)
Thilanga Sumathipala	2003–2004
Mohan De Silva	2004–2005
Jayantha Dharmadasa	2005–2007
Arjuna Ranatunga	2008
S. Liyanagama	2008–2009
Somachandra de Silva	2009–2011
Upali Dharmadasa	2011–2012
Jayantha Dharmadasa	2013–2015
Sidath Wettimuny	2015–2016
Thilanga Sumathipala	2016–2019
Shammi Silva	2019–

Vice-Presidents

• Killi Rajamahendran (Early 1980s)
• Shelley Wickramasinghe (mid-1980s)

• Thilanga Sumathipala
• Aravinda de Silva (2003–2004)
• K. Mathivanan
• Asanga Seneviratne
• Jayantha Dharmadasa (2016–Present)
• K. Mathivanan (2016–2019)
• Ravin Wickramaratne (2019–Present)

Secretaries

• Kushil Gunasekara (2002)
• Mohan de Silva (2003)
• Lourence Amarasena (2004)
• S. Liyanagama
• Michael de Zoysa
• Nishantha Ranatunga (March 2009 – July 2011)
• Nishantha Ranatunga (2012–2015)
• Mohan de Silva (2016–2023)

Assistant Secretaries

• Ravin Wickramaratne (2004)
• Hirvanamuthu Kulendran
• Ravin Wickramaratne (2016–2019)
• Chryshantha Kapuwatta (2019-Present)

Treasurers

• Tryphon Mirando (2002)
• Nuski Mohamed (2004)
• Sujeewa Rajapakse (January 2008 – July 2011)
• Nuski Mohamed (2012–2013)
• Shammi Silva (2016–2019)
• Lasantha Wickramasinghe (2019-2022)
• Sujeewa Godaliyadda (2023-Present)

Assistant Treasurers

• Lucien Merinnage (2004)
• Ajith Sivasamy (2012–2013)
• Shammi Silva (2014–2015)
• Lalith Rambukwella (2016–2019)
• Sujeewa Godaliyadda (2019-2022)
• Lasantha Wickramasinghe (2023-Present)

External links

• Official website