Thaindian News

Colombo, Jan 17 (IANS) Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has sought a report from the country’s cricket board on the issues plaguing the national team.

The sports minister Tuesday ordered Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman Upali Dharmadasa to submit the report within a week.

“The minister had also informed the newly elected board to submit short-term to long-term solutions to the present crisis,” the sports ministry said in a statement.

The move came just a day after former Sri Lankan cricket captain turned politician Arjuna Ranatunga told Xinhua in an interview that the national cricket team and the cricket board were in a mess.

Ranatunga said that the current national cricket selection panel should be sacked following Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

Sri Lanka has had a poor run over the past few months, suffering a Test and One-Day International series loss in the United Arab Emirates against Pakistan and later losing the Test series in South Africa.

The Sri Lankan cricketers had not been paid their salaries for several months by the cricket board and only recently a part of it was paid from the money obtained from the International Cricket Council and the government treasury.

“The current cricket board is in a mess. The Sri Lankan sports minister may say the board is not bankrupt, but maybe he does not know the mathematics. There is a major issue in the cricket administration and this is sure to be affecting the players as well,” Ranatunga said.