ICC CEO Geoff Allardice recently met with Sri Lanka’s new sports minister and President Ranil Wickremesinghe to gain a better understanding of the political situation in the country regarding cricket administration. The ICC imposed a suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership in November and stripped the country of its hosting rights for the Men’s Under-19 World Cup.
Following the meeting, sports minister Harin Fernando posted on X (formerly Twitter) that they had a “constructive discussion and a way forward for SLC.” Allardice also met with President Wickremesinghe to discuss potential changes to SLC’s constitution.
Allardice will report his findings to the ICC’s board, which is meeting at the end of March, and is likely to discuss SLC’s membership status.
The ICC’s suspension of SLC was based on perceived government interference, with previous sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe seeking to sack the entire SLC board. The ICC’s board suspended SLC at the request of SLC’s officials, who were at odds with then-sports minister Ranasinghe. Now, with a new minister in place, board members are confident SLC will be reinstated as a full member at the next board meeting.
This is the second trip to Sri Lanka by an ICC executive to understand the intersection of politics and cricket. In mid-2023, ICC deputy chair Imran Khwaja visited Sri Lanka to investigate potential government interference but did not find immediate evidence to suspend the board.
