Arjuna Ranatunga, brother crushed in Sri Lanka Cricket election

The Ranatunga brothers, Arjuna and Nishantha, suffered humiliating defeats as Thilanga Sumathipala was elected President of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) here today.

Sumathipala, the current deputy speaker of parliament got 88 votes as opposed to his main challenger, Nishantha Ranatunga who received 56 votes at the election held at the Sports Ministry today amid high security. Special Task Force soldiers were deployed in the vicinity of the ministry premises.

Nishantha's brother Arjuna Ranatunga, the current Minister of Ports and Shipping and the country's only World Cup winning captain, was also defeated in his bid to become a vice-President.

He was beaten by M Mathivanan and Jayantha Dharmadasa both from the team of Sumathipala. Sumathipala thus returns to head SLC for his third term at the top. Both his previous administrations were dismissed by the government who appointed interim committees to run the SLC.

Nishantha Ranatunga was the Secretary of the last elected administration which was also dissolved in March last year to be replaced with an interim committee. The International Cricket Council had been pressurising the government to hold democratic elections as early as possible.

The government, after dismissing the previous administration, appointed a probe committee to look into allegations of corruption and mismanagement. The position of Secretary has also gone to a member of the Sumathipala camp, Mohan de Silva. Sumathipala and de Silva have worked together in the same positions previously.
PTI