Sri Lanka sacks cricket board, appoints interim committee

Sri Lanka's sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe sacked the national cricket board on Monday, after a disappointing World Cup campaign. Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe called the governing body, Sri Lanka Cricket, “traitorous and corrupt” in a Friday statement, saying board members should resign.The secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket, Mohan de Silva, the second-highest official on the board, stepped down on Saturday as fans protested in front of its headquarters.Sri Lanka has won only two of its seven World Cup matches, all but crashing out of the semifinal race, with the board coming under heavy criticism from angry fans after Thursday’s 302-run loss to hosts India.Arjuna Ranatunga has been appointed chairman of a new interim board, Ranasinghe's office said in a statement. "Sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe has formed an interim committee for Sri Lanka Cricket," the statement said. The new seven-member panel also includes a retired supreme court judge and a former board president.
"Sri Lanka Cricket has been besieged with complaints of player disciplinary issues, management corruption, financial misconduct and match-fixing allegations," Ranasinghe said in the letters, released to Sri Lankan media.The minister was forced by the ICC to withdraw a three-member panel he had appointed last month to investigate alleged corruption at the board after it was deemed to be political interference.Sri Lanka have not won the World Cup since 1996, with Ranasinghe blaming the board for the "deterioration" of standards.