Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) says that it is now prepared to undertake a damage control mission with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) following the island-nation’s decision to side with Pakistan at the ICC meeting held last Saturday.
“Now it is basically a damage control exercise for us,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranathunga told Ceylon Today after the SLC briefed its Executive Committee members yesterday, on why they had abstained from voting at the ICC meeting last weekend.
Cricket analysts warn that Sri Lanka Cricket will have no other alternative but to support the resolution brought forward by the ICC’s big three (India, England, Australia) and to accrue whatever benefits possible for the national team.
These analysts further pointed out the SLC will be compelled to get into the good books of the ICC’s big three or be left in the lurch as the new proposals invariably grant more authority to the powerful ICC troika.
Several of the proposals still need to be adopted by the ICC’s Full Council, and they will be drafted by various committees before being submitted for approval at its next meeting in April. SLC is said to be still mulling over what final decision it would take.
Meanwhile, Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage has said he too supports the SLC decision to abstain from voting at the ICC meeting after being informed of it by SLC secretary Ranathunga.
“Secretary of SLC Nishantha Ranathunga called me 10 minutes prior to the Singapore meeting,” the Minister said.
“He (Ranathunga) said that South Africa was going to vote for the big three decision and if we vote against it, then we will be the only one opposing it. He said there are some changes in the proposal which are favourable to us compared to the original proposal and sought permission to abstain from voting to which I did approve,” said Aluthgamage.
The dominant trio seemed to the big winners after the proposals allied to a wide-ranging and controversial shake-up of its governance and structure were approved by the necessary eight out of 10 full members at a hastily convened International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting in Singapore.
Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa had all opposed the revamp when it was debated last month, but the latter voted in favour at Saturday’s meeting. Sri Lanka and Pakistan abstained.
In the revamped ICC, India — this constitutes 80 percent of global revenues — and fellow powerhouses England and Australia will have permanent seats on a new, five-member executive committee.
The committee will make recommendations to the decision-making body, the ICC board, which will be chaired by India’s N. Srinivasan from the middle of this year.
Revenues will be distributed according to countries’ contributions — financial, sporting and historical — but the seven non-“Big Three” members will be boosted by a new Test Cricket Fund.
The Future Tours Programme, designed to guarantee series for all Test teams, will be changed with a series of binding, bilateral agreements to be struck between members.
And the World Test Championship, which was due to debut in 2017, has been scrapped, with the one-day Champions Trophy continuing in 2017 and 2021. The Test championship was deemed unworkable, a statement said.
