Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa held a discussion with cricket officials and members of the National Sports Council as well as the Sri Lanka team coach on how to start winning matches again after a series of debacles.
Player management and performance as well as selection matters and the quality of the inter club tournament were discussed at the meeting.
It was also discussed to appoint a qualified and capable team mentor, director of cricket and full time team manager.
Also discussed were contractual agreements and an incentive scheme with regard to players and coaches, a new provincial cricket tournament structure and the appointment of an active and capable cricket committee under Sri Lanka Cricket to implement and oversee both the national and international cricketing structures.
It was agreed to implement all what was discussed on or before March 1.
Among those present at the meeting with Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa were Shammi Silva (President Sri Lanka Cricket), Ravin Wickramaratne (Vice President Sri Lanka Cricket), Mickey Arthur (Sri Lanka head coach), Mahela Jayawardena (Chairman National Sports Council) and Sanjeewa Wickramanayake (Chairman Tier-1 High Performance Committee).
The following suggestions were discussed:
Re-consider the current selection committee and nominate an alternative list of selectors.
Consider to re-organize the current first-class tournament structure to continue with minimum of eight and maximum of 14 Tier One teams, where Tier One will be considered as first class and Tier Two will have no first-class status.
Organize new super provincial tournament with five teams and cluster all the Premier Tier 1 and Tier 2 clubs and divisional clubs.
Identify highly capable and qualified personnel to be appointed to the national team as team mentor, director cricket and full time team manager
Re-consider the existing contractual agreements and incentive scheme with regard to players and coaches in order to ensure that it encompasses an incentive structure based on both team and individual performance as well as consistency and discipline
The management of Sri Lanka Cricket to have a mechanism to monitor and enforce discipline along with physical fitness among players and other contracted staff
To appoint an active and capable cricket committee under Sri Lanka Cricket to implement and oversee both the national (local) and international cricketing structures.