Sports
Sri Lanka Cricket suspended by ICC: Causes and implications
There are more layers to the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) than are visible. On the surface, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision, taken after an emergent board meeting, seems beneficial to the body it has suspended. Shammi Silva, the elected president of the SLC, is not exactly a persona non grata after the unexpected ICC decision. The ICC, in fact, said it still recognised him and his ‘democratically elected office-bearers’ and as a director.
More specifically, this move has been intended to prevent the government takeover of the SLC, which the country’s auditor general said is mired in corruption. To stretch the point further, only a couple of days ago, the country’s Parliament debated the SLC corruption issue and was preparing to have its own representative, namely Arjuna Ranatunga, run the body.
To elaborate, there has been an attempt to change the constitution of the SLC altogether, and Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe has been at the forefront of these plans. He appointed Ranatunga, a former and the only World Cup-winning captain in the island, as the chairman of the interim committee. The decision was stayed by a court of appeal, but only for two weeks. The stay order, passed on a Silva appeal, was set to be in effect until November 16.
Another dimension to the decision is the policies of the interim head. Ranatunga, considered to hold radical views on the game in Sri Lanka, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and the ICC, is not a popular figure in international cricket administration. Many ICC members would not be pleased with him being at the helm, least of all the BCCI, against whom he has often made scathing comments.
The ICC decision to suspend SLC followed a virtual meeting of the ICC board. It said the suspension is with immediate effect. “ICC Board met today and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka. The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course,” the ICC statement said.
Interestingly, the ICC decision comes a day after Sri Lanka’s participation in the ongoing World Cup formally ended. They were eliminated from the semifinal contention a week ago, but the decision was made after they played their last game of the Championship in Bengaluru on Thursday.
There may be a few serious implications of this decision. In January 2024, SLC is scheduled to host the Under-19 World Cup in the island nation. The fate of that tournament now hangs in the balance. A suspended board, obviously, cannot be expected to host a global event. Similarly, whether the ICC will stop releasing its funds for SLC is a matter of serious concern. There are no immediate international bilateral matches though.
The matter will now dominate the ICC board meeting, which will be held in Ahmedabad on November 21. For the record, SLC will not be a part of the board meeting, but Cricbuzz understands that Silva, having been the recognized person from Sri Lanka, will be able to sit in the meeting nevertheless, as an ICC mail, seen by Cricbuzz, states.
While the ICC decision culminates a series of events that have been taking place in SLC, it is not exactly consistent with its past policies. The ICC did not take action against Cricket South Africa (CSA) for a similar decision by the SA government. But it had suspended Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) a couple of times.
ICC mail to SLC
On Friday evening, ICC Chair Greg Barclay notified the SLC about its suspension. The notice, sent via email by Barclay, states:
Dear Shammi
In accordance with the powers under Article 2.10(A) of the ICC Articles of Association, the ICC Board of Directors, has determined that SLC cricket is in serious breach of its obligation as a member, in particular its obligations under Article 2.4(D) of the ICC Articles of Association (to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in its governance, regulation and/or its administration of cricket in Sri Lanka). As a consequence, Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership of the ICC has been suspended with immediate effect.
The ICC Board will consider the precise terms of Sri Lanka Cricket’s suspension and the conditions it will need to satisfy in order to have its suspension lifted in due course.
For the purpose of the upcoming Board meeting, the Board has agreed that it will continue to recognise the democratically elected office-bearers of Sri Lanka Cricket and thus you will be entitled to attend the meeting in your capacity as an ICC director.”
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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