Sri Lanka Cricket

History

Main article: History of cricket in Sri Lanka

Cricket was brought to the nation when it was colonized by the British. As everywhere that the British arrived in numbers, cricket soon followed and it is reasonable to assume that the game was first played on the island by 1800. The earliest definite mention of cricket in Ceylon was a report in the Colombo Journal on 5 September 1832 which called for the formation of a cricket club. The Colombo Cricket Club was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1833 when it played against the 97th Regiment.

Throughout the 20th century, the game became increasingly popular in Sri Lanka. It was in the 1975 inaugural Cricket World Cup that they made their international debut. They lost to the West Indies by 9 wickets. They did however turn heads at the same tournament with an excellent display in their match against Australia. The national team won the ICC Trophy in 1979. On 21 July 1981, Sri Lanka was admitted to full membership of the ICC and was awarded Test Match status. The inaugural Test was played at the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo in February 1982 against England that Sri Lanka lost by 8 wickets. Sri Lanka won the 1996 Cricket World Cup by defeating Australia. Sri Lanka won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 by defeating India.

In 2023, SLC faced accusations of corruption and declining standards, with Minister for Sports Roshan Ranasinghe having considered its board to be "traitorous and corrupt". After being eliminated from the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Ranasinghe called for the resignation of the SLC board. On 6 November 2023, after the board's secretary Mohan De Silva resigned, Ranasinghe removed the entire SLC board and replaced them with a seven-member interim committee led by Arjuna Ranatunga—captain of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup-winning team. The next day, in response to a petition by the board's president Shammi Silva, the Appeal Court ruled that the previous board was to be reinstated for a period of two weeks pending hearings.

On 10 November 2023, the ICC suspended SLC for failing to meet "the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration". While the board of the ICC ruled that the suspension would not affect Sri Lanka's day-to-day participation in international cricket, the country was stripped of its rights to host the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. On 28 January 2024, the ICC lifted the suspension, after its board ruled that SLC were no longer in breach of membership obligations.

Domestic competitions

Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions in the country:

• T10

1. Lanka T10

• T20

1. Lanka Premier League
2. Major Clubs T20 Tournament
3. SLC Invitational T20 League

• First Class

1. Major League Tournament
2. National Super League 4-Day Tournament

• List A

1. Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament
2. National Super League Limited Over Tournament

They also organize and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament, a competition focusing on provincial-level teams with pooled talent rather than on individual cricket clubs.

Former Competitions

• Premier Limited Overs Tournament
• SLC Invitational T20 League
• Sri Lanka Premier League(2012)
• SLC Twenty20 Tournament
• SLC T20 League(2018)
• Super T20 Provincial Tournament
• Sri Lanka Cricket Super 4's T20(2013-2014)

Leadership

Presidents

Vice-Presidents

• Killi Rajamahendran (Early 1980s)

• Shelley Wickramasinghe (mid-1980s)

• Thilanga Sumathipala

• Aravinda de Silva (2003–2004)

• K. Mathivanan

• Asanga Seneviratne

• Jayantha Dharmadasa (2016 – present)

• K. Mathivanan (2016–2019)

• Ravin Wickramaratne (2019 – present)

Secretaries

• Kushil Gunasekara (2002)
• Mohan De Silva (2003)
• Lourence Amarasena (2004)
• S. Liyanagama
• Michael de Zoysa
• Nishantha Ranatunga (March 2009 – July 2011)
• Nishantha Ranatunga (2012–2015)
• Mohan De Silva (2016–2023)

Assistant Secretaries

• Ravin Wickramaratne (2004)
• Hirvanamuthu Kulendran
• Ravin Wickramaratne (2016–2019)
• Chryshantha Kapuwatta (2019 – present)

Treasurers

• Tryphon Miranda (2002)
• Nuski Mohamed (2004)
• Sujeewa Rajapakshe (January 2008 – July 2011)
• Nuski Mohamed (2012–2013)
• Shammi Silva (2016–2019)
• Lasantha Wickramasinghe (2019-2022)
• Sujeewa Godaliyadda (2023 – present)

Assistant Treasurers

• Lucien Merinnage (2004)
• Ajith Sivasamy (2012–2013)
• Shammi Silva (2014–2015)
• Lalith Rambukwella (2016–2019)
• Sujeewa Godaliyadda (2019-2022)
• Lasantha Wickramasinghe (2023 – present)

References

References

1. (11 November 2025). "New ICC post for SLC CEO Ashley".
2. (12 June 2016). "Jerome Jayaratne appointed COO of SLC".
3. "Annual Report 2020 SLCB".
4. "Sri LankaCricket".
5. "97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot". [[National Army Museum]].
6. "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs West Indies 4th Match 1975 - Score Report {{!}} ESPNcricinfo.com".
7. "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs Canada Final 1979 - Score Report {{!}} ESPNcricinfo.com".
8. "Only Test, Colombo, Feb 17 - 21 1982, England tour of Sri Lanka". ESPN Cricinfo.
9. "Full Scorecard of Australia vs Sri Lanka Final 1995/96 - Score Report {{!}} ESPNcricinfo.com".
10. "Full Scorecard of India vs Sri Lanka Final 2013/14 - Score Report {{!}} ESPNcricinfo.com".
11. (2023-11-06). "Sri Lanka sports minister sacks cricket board; Arjuna Ranatunga to helm new interim board". The Economic Times.
12. "Sri Lanka Cricket Board Sacked After Poor World Cup Show, Arjuna Ranatunga Named Chairman of Interim Board".
13. (7 November 2023). "Sacked Sri Lanka Cricket Board restored following court order".
14. (10 November 2023). "Sri Lanka suspended over government interference". BBC Sport.
15. (11 November 2023). "Sri Lanka Cricket suspended by ICC board". Cricnews.live.
16. "ICC Board lifts suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket".
17. "ICC shifts Men's Under 19 World Cup from Sri Lanka to South Africa".
18. (28 January 2024). "ICC lifts ban on Sri Lanka Cricket". Cricbuzz.
19. (12 August 2011). "Shelley Wickramasinghe dies at 85". ESPNCricinfo.com.