Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been reinstated as a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) following a two-month ban, the organisation announced on Sunday. SLC was banned in November for failing to meet their requirements as an ICC member.
The International Cricket Council removed the ban on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) today, with immediate effect.
On November 10, 2023, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was suspended for violating its ICC Member responsibilities, specifically “the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation, and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka.”
The ICC Board convened on November 21 and concluded that Sri Lanka can continue to compete globally in both bilateral and ICC competitions; however, the ongoing U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which was originally scheduled to be contested in Sri Lanka, has been moved to South Africa.
The ICC Board has been monitoring the situation since the suspension and is now convinced that SLC is no longer in breach of its membership duties.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) had already suspended Sri Lanka’s cricket board due to government interference. The development comes only days after the country’s sports minister dismissed the entire cricket board due to corruption suspicions. Later, Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeals overruled the ruling, reinstating all officials awaiting a full hearing.
This comes after the Sri Lanka cricket team failed to do well at the ICC World Cup 2023. The team won only two of the nine league matches and is presently ranked ninth in the World Cup points table. Sri Lanka was particularly awful against India, finishing with double-digit scores in both the ICC World Cup and Asia Cup finals.
Sri Lanka’s sports minister, Roshan Ranasinghe, decided to fire the cricket board, citing extensive corruption inside the organisation. The minister claimed that the cricket officials lacked the moral and ethical credibility to maintain their posts. In addition, the minister established an interim cricket board, chaired by 1996 World Cup winner Arjuna Ranatunga. “Sri Lanka Cricket had become known as the most corrupt institution in the country,” Arjuna Ranatunga explained. “I want to change that image,” he explained.
Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeals later overturned the ruling, restoring the cricket board. “The board will be restored for two weeks, during which time the court will hear the case again,” a court official stated.
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