A high-level team from the International Cricket Council (ICC), including a senior official from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is expected to visit Sri Lanka in the coming days following the government’s appointment of an interim body to run cricket administration, Newswire reported, citing Press Trust of India.
ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja is expected to arrive in Colombo on Friday night and will be followed on Saturday by another ICC official who also holds a top-level role within the BCCI, according to the PTI report. Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage, speaking on a television programme, also confirmed that ICC officials are expected to visit Sri Lanka in the near future for discussions.
The visit comes after Minister Gamage on April 29 appointed a nine-member interim transformation committee chaired by former MP Eran Wickramaratne following the resignation of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Shammi Silva and the Executive Committee. The committee — which includes former captains Kumar Sangakkara, Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettimuny — has been tasked with overseeing cricket administration, pursuing reforms and running operations until fresh elections are held.
The intervention was made under Sports Law No. 25 of 1973, the first time the legislation has been invoked to bring SLC under direct ministerial control.
The ICC’s constitution requires that its member boards remain free from government interference, and the global body has previously suspended member associations — including Sri Lanka itself in 2023 — where it determined ministry-led changes breached that principle. Sri Lanka is scheduled to host a Tri-Nation Series with India ‘A’ and Afghanistan ‘A’ in June, making the ICC’s assessment of the current governance arrangement an immediate scheduling concern.
