Sri Lanka Cricket veteran secretary Mohan de Silva threw in the towel and quit his post on Saturday after a massive public outcry for a sacking of officials running the troubled sports body but Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe want all members to resign.
Minister Ranasinghe gave cricket officials a virtual ultimatum to either resign or face a sacking although he did not give them a deadline to move out.
“Take responsibility (for the World Cup debacle) and resign or else I will have to do my part,” Minister Ranasinghe said just as a public chorus for a purging of the offices of Sri Lanka Cricket took centre stage the previous day.
But one voice, that of Opposition Member of Parliament Hesha Withanage went as far as telling Minister Ranasinghe to abolish cricket if he cannot sack officials of Sri Lanka Cricket.
“We have nothing left and to allow these corrupt officials to continue running cricket fearing a ban by the ICC if they are sacked does not make sense. You might as well abolish cricket”, said Withanage who is considered the main whistle blower of what happened during the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November 2022 that led to a breach of player indiscipline ending up in casino brawls and sex escapades.
Withanage’s revelation of financial misdeeds connected to the tour of Australia prompted the government to investigate the issues raised by him that proved him right.
De Silva’s resignation did not come as a surprise as he was seen as a clean face at Sri Lanka Cricket and to the media a good Public Relations man.
De Silva, a veteran of 25 years in cricket administration missed his turn to become Sri Lanka Cricket’s elected president in 2006 when the then Sports Minister and film star Jeewan Kumaratunga called off the election and appointed Jayantha Dharmadasa who was the former chairman of the State Film Corporation.
The move was seen as payback time for Kumaratunga whose films were released by Dharmadasa ahead of other movies in line for public screening.
Now a political crossover, Dharmadasa was a buddy of the now resigned De Silva as the two men sat side by side at executive board meetings.
