The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board lifted the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) with immediate effect on Sunday (January 28).
SLC was suspended in November last year after being found to have been in breach of its obligation as an ICC member. SLC was required to manage its affairs as an autonomous body and ensure that there is “no government intervention in regulation or administration of cricket”.
An official release by the ICC confirmed that the ICC Board has been following the situation since the suspension and are now satisfied that SLC are not in breach of the obligations that an ICC member is “supposed to comply with”. Government interference, most notably, Sri Lanka’s Sports Ministry, was supposedly one of the key reasons behind the ICC’s decision to suspend SLC.
That the ICC is actually making these statements (with a straight face to boot one must presume) is beyond ironic, to say the least.
Sri Lankan men’s cricket team’s immediate next assignment is their one-off Test match against Afghanistan beginning on February 2 (Friday) at the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) Cricket Ground in Colombo. That match will be followed by a three-match ODI series and a three-match T20I series.
