Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) administrative malaise took another turn on Tuesday as the country’s court of appeal issued a 14-day stay order preventing the government Gazette that appointed an “interim committee” from taking effect. The move had been spearheaded by the country’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe, but had been appealed against by SLC president Shammi Silva.
It, however, appears to be no longer a purely sporting issue as prior to the court’s judgement it had already been escalated to the highest levels of Sri Lankan governance – the office of the Sri Lanka president Ranil Wickremesinghe. The matter was eventually discussed by the cabinet of ministers on Monday and even debated in Tuesday’s parliamentary session.
According to widespread reports, President Wickremesinghe had only learnt of the move to appoint an interim committee through the media. Ranasinghe for his part has argued that the decision was vested solely with the sports minister and did not require the…