Submits nominations, no Secretary named
Colombo District MP and former President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Thilanga Sumathipala yesterday handed over his nominations to contest the upcoming cricket elections.
Although Sumathipala has a formidable team comprising prominent figures of the local cricket scene, his failure to nominate someone for the post of Secretary is a clear indication that he had to compromise, in seeking the blessings to contest the elections.
The Secretary of the current administration, Nishantha Ranatunga is expected to seek re-election independently, as he did last time.
The fact that Sumathipala didn’t want to field Ranatunga in his team is an indication that he didn’t want Ranatunga to be part of his set up, but there are mysterious hands pushing for Ranatunga’s re-election.
Sumathipala’s committee will comprise club cricket stalwarts Mohan de Silva and Shammi Silva as Vice-Presidents, while Eastman Narangoda, the former Chairman of Seylan Bank and Sumathipala’s schoolmate at Nalanda College, will be the Treasurer. Irwin Jayawardene will be the Assistant Treasurer, while there will be others like Jayantha Paranathala, who will be involved in administration.
Sumathipala is likely to win the elections uncontested, after his rival Jayantha Dharmadasa indicated that the atmosphere wasn’t right for him to contest, although he was initially interested.
Dharmadasa, who headed SLC from 2005 to 2007, was being persuaded by his colleagues to contest the elections.
Today is the last day to submit nominations.
The Sumathipalas and the Ranatungas are bitter family rivals, owing to a cricket dispute that’s a decade old. It was during Sumathipala’s tenure as Chairman of SLC, that the eldest of the Ranatunga brothers – Dhammika – was sacked as CEO of SLC and if Nishantha sits in the Ex-Co with Sumathipala, it’s bound to create deep divisions between the closely knit Ranatunga family, four of whom represented the country in either Test or ODI cricket.
Professionally too, Sumathipala and Nishantha Ranatunga were involved in an ugly clash some 10 years ago that resulted in embarrassment for the latter.
Whether both ambitious men are able to forget the past and work for the betterment of the sport remains to be seen.
Article Courtesy The Island
