Sri Lanka's interim board dissolved, Ranatunga sacked

[PlanetPakistan]

Sri Lanka's sports minister Gamini Lokuge has dissolved the interim administration of Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, saying the situation at SLC demanded an immediate change.

The sports secretary, S Liyanagama, will oversee the SLC administration until a decision is taken - within the next week, Lokuge said - on whether to call for elections or to appoint another interim administration.

"Arjuna Ranatunga has not been cooperating with the company or the players," Lokuge was quoted as saying by PTI. "We tried to sort it out but could not and he has been removed."

The immediate issue was the sacking of 16 SLC employees by Ranatunga last week. At the time, SLC officials explained the decision by saying those sacked were holding positions no longer required by the organisation. However, the decision was apparently taken without informing the minister, directly contravening his order that he be consulted on every move.

"I have been told that my services are no longer required and I will honourably step aside, allowing the person the Minister wishes to bring in to run the show," Ranatunga was quoted as saying by cricketnirvana.com.

Ranatunga, appointed to the post in January 2008, has had a controversial tenure. Perhaps his most controversial decision was negotiating a tour of England by the senior team that would overlap with the second season of the IPL, to which many of the players are contracted. After a protracted tussle, the tour was eventually called off with West Indies slotted in to replace Sri Lanka.

He has been a vocal critic of the IPL, once comparing it once to instant noodles, and sought tighter control for the national board over player contracts with the league. In September, the SLC broke ranks with the official cricketing establishment by deciding to allow five cricketers and an umpire who had signed up for the unauthorised ICL to play domestic cricket.

[PlanetPakistan]

Nonsense.

[Henry]

So the BCCI also runs Sri Lankan politics? FFS.....

Arjuna was the only Board chief who was prepared to stand up to them.

[The One]

ranatunga was a loose cannon. was a matter of time. players didnt like him, the rest of the board didnt

[PlanetPakistan]

ranatunga was a loose cannon. was a matter of time. players didnt like him, the rest of the board didnt

His integrity is the main reason why he is booted out...simple as

I am disgusted by the blatant hypocrisy and politics in the game today.

[The One]

ranatunga? integrity? he ran the board like a dictatorship, never consulting anyone. he was bound to get the boot at some time. the players especially were not pleased

[PlanetPakistan]

AND NOW SL have cancelled the PAK tour....

Coincident...YEAH RIGHT.

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