Just when the purists and the unsuspecting thought Change was coming to Sri Lanka Cricket which side-stepped even the country’s Supreme legislature-making body, Parliament, more than 18 months ago, it has been revealed that the curtailing of votes to elect administrators could cause more confusion and is not the cup of tea of independent think-tanks.
Discussions and debates now taking place in the boardrooms of clubs have been centered around concerns that the slashing of votes from 147 to 60 is a mere eyewash, meaning officials who are already entrenched and looking forward to a further stay or in any other capacity will be guaranteed of a continuation.
Analysts contend that SLC could have even a thousand votes but the bottom line is that without an Independent chairman and a Board of Directors as recommended by a Declaration in the Investigative Report compiled by retired Supreme Court judge KT Chitrasiri, the much needed Change in the administration of cricket will continue to be reserved for the Chosen Few.
The current National People’s Power (NPP) government had even stated in its election Manifesto that the Chitrasiri Report has to be tabled in Parliament that analysts say should be done at least a month before nominations are called for the scheduled election of office bearers to SLC in May.
The Chitrasiri Report also documents what it calls five Main Principles for the new Constitution of SLC and among them are the appointment of an Independent Chairperson and a majority of the 18 Board Members to be independent that will help ensure a clean and fair administration devoid of favouritism, nepotism and financial mismanagement.
The second Main Principle states that voting clubs are not the sole stakeholders of SLC and the need for a broad based director board representing women’s cricket, schools, coaches, umpires and players.
“The number of votes (147) does not matter. Contrary to popular belief the high number of voting clubs (85 clubs with 147 votes) is not the cause of SLC’s poor governance. Due to the lack of independence in the SLC board, the clubs themselves act as their own regulator causing a massive conflict of interest”, covers the third Main Principle in the Chitrasiri Report.
The fourth Main Principle in the Chitrasiri Recommendation notes that some SLC board members have been around for more than 20 years while the fifth Main Principle refers to the removal of what is called “Archaic Honourary Office Bearer posts by transforming SLC form an old boys club to a modern corporate fit for purpose”.
