Former Sri Lanka Cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga has put conditions to consider Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa’s appeal to join efforts to improve cricket in Sri Lanka.
Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa had reportedly appealed to Ranatunga to support the development of cricket in Sri Lanka.
Ranatunga says he is willing to support efforts to improve cricket in Sri Lanka if the current cricket board is first removed and an interim committee is appointed.
“Namal Rajapaksa can change this if he wants. Because he has that backing in the Government. But he must make drastic changes,” he said.
The World Cup wining captain said that simply removing the cricket selector or the captain of the team is not the way forward.
He said that drastic changes must be made to ensure Sri Lanka benefits from the results in another two years.
“We cannot resolve this by pasting plasters. We must remove the tree and start a new. I say with responsibility this can be changed even in six months if tough decisions are taken,” he said.
He told reporters that several attempts were made in the past to make changes in the game but those efforts failed.
“We tried in the past to make changes to the sports law and appoint an interim committee but that failed. Some say you cannot run with an interim committee but that is not the case. Some other countries also run with interim committees. We can request the International Cricket Council to give us two years to make some changes and then elect a new cricket board,” he said.
Ranatunga said that he also has some concerns over the decisions implemented by the Sports Council headed by former cricketer Mahela Jayawardena.
He said that the concerns are over the practicality of some decisions taken by the council. (Colombo Gazette)