Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa on Wednesday denied media reports that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had asked Sri Lanka Cricket Board chairman Shammi Silva to step down and was appointing an interim committee led by former deputy minister Eran Wickramaratne.
“Neither the government, the president or the sports minister, nor I as the spokesman, have said anything about this,” Jayatissa told reporters. “There have been no official discussions about it.”
He added that if discussions on such resignations and appointments were to take place, the cabinet would inform the media.
A Sri Lankan daily newspaper had carried the report earlier in the week, citing unnamed sources that placed Wickramaratne at the head of a proposed interim panel to oversee cricket administration.
The denial contrasts with claims made on Tuesday by Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP S.M. Marikkar, who told reporters the president might remove the existing SLC board before May 1 as a “popular decision” ahead of the Labour Day rallies. Marikkar said he had seen the reports naming Wickramaratne but could not verify them.
Sri Lanka Cricket governance has been under scrutiny for months over questions of financial management, player welfare and domestic competition integrity. Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage has previously confirmed that discussions with the International Cricket Council were under way on governance matters. Wednesday’s cabinet response does not rule out future changes, but sets the current reporting against the official line that no formal process is in train.
