SLC rebuts statements made by Arjuna Ranatunga

Sri Lanka Cricket in a statement yesterday said that the ‘news reports’, published quoting Arjuna Ranatunga pertaining to the organisation’s seeking permission from the Ministry of Sports to send seven officials on an overseas tour for official duties, provide a misleading picture, thus tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka Cricket and its officials.

Sri Lanka Cricket said that in this mentioned case, Sri Lanka Cricket has sought permission from the Ministry of Sports to send seven Executive Committee members to engage in official matters during the ongoing Men’s Asia Cup. 

Any tours undertaken or planned to be undertaken by its Executive Committee members are purely aimed at conducting “official work” pertaining to the development of the game of cricket in Sri Lanka and nothing else.

While being the host Cricketing Board for the Asia Cup 2022, the work expected to be done by these officials of SLC during the planned tour to the UAE includes; meeting and discussing bilateral cricket arrangements with the officials of the member countries; holding discussions with the Asian Cricket Council; and also meeting with the private sector representatives, who can bring in massive commercial opportunities for the game in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Cricket said that with a massive Future Tours Program (FTP) in place for Sri Lanka during the years 2023 to 2027 and also several editions of the Lanka Premier League, it is essential that SLC officials start working on those tours, tournaments, and also the Lanka Premier League’s upcoming editions, and in this case, high-level international collaborations are required to ensure that we fulfil and achieve our cricketing objectives perfectly.  Sri Lanka Cricket emphasised that the Executive Committee members of the SLC are serving in an honorary capacity for the betterment of the game and are not paid a salary, and they serve the game in various capacities such as holding chairmanship, or membership ‘in various cricket related committees or sub-committees, such as Tour organising, Domestic Cricket, Umpiring, Tournament Organising, and many more.

As a result, the Executive Committee members of Sri Lanka Cricket deserve enormous credit for the honorary services they provide to the game of cricket, and such services should be commended rather than degraded by false claims like those made by Ranatunga, as quoted in the news reports.