by Rex Clementine

Hot on the heels of the Parliament debate on the affairs of Sri Lanka Cricket, the Sports Ministry could present the newly drafted Constitution for Sri Lanka Cricket that had been drawn up after meticulous consideration following a petition to the courts.

Leading stakeholders of the sport had petitioned the court to intervene to restructure SLC. The court asked for the opinion of the Sports Ministry and with Roshan Ranasinghe giving his blessings, the drafting of a new constitution was given the green light.

Accordingly, a committee headed by retired Judge K.T. Chitrasiri was requested to prepare the new constitution. The former Supreme Court Judge has come up with an excellent draft that will give SLC a professional outlook like in the mode of Cricket Australia with leading professionals running the sport with those with cricket backgrounds looking after the technical aspect of the game.

Accordingly, a Board comprising 18 Directors will operate SLC. Eight of these Directors will be appointed while ten will be elected.

The appointed Directors are the novel feature in the new constitution and it will comprise the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports; the President of the Institute for Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka or his nominee, the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka or his nominee, the Chairperson of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce or his nominee; Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors or his nominee; and the Chairperson of CIMA Sri Lanka or his nominee.

In naming the appointed Directors the committee will look at individuals with capacity, integrity and sound background in their specific field.The appointed Directors will serve for a term of four years. The Chairman of the Board will be elected from the appointed Directors.

The ten elected Directors will include five from Member Clubs, one Director from the Players’ Association, one Director from Schools, one Director from Women’s Cricket, one Director from the Umpires Association, and one Director from the Coaches’ Association.

The day-to-day running of the board will be done by a Director-General, who effectively will be the chief executive officer.

It remains to be seen when the proposed constitution will be tabled in Parliament. Some MPs have given the assurance that within two weeks they will be able to pass the new constitution in Parliament. Some observers feel that it will be held back until the World Cup is over. But what can be done is to pass the draft and provide a date from which it will become effective.

Retired judge Prasanna Jayawardene drafted a similar high-profile constitution for Sri Lanka Cricket in 2016. That constitution was modelled along the lines of Cricket South Africa but before it was given the approval, then President Maithripala Sirisena brought the Sports Ministry under SLFP, and the proposal was given the cold shoulder.