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Sanath Jayasuriya
has been appointed chairman of selectors by sports minister
Mahindananda Aluthgamage, and the number of selectors increased to five,
Sri Lanka's sports ministry confirmed on Monday. Jayasuriya is a member
of parliament for the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, of which
Aluthgamage is also a member. He was a late addition
to the list of nominees sent to the minister by Sri Lanka cricket, and
will begin his tenure on February 1, 19 months after his last appearance
for Sri Lanka.
Former fast bowlers Pramodya Wickramasinghe and Eric Upashantha were
also appointed to the panel, as well as former batsmen Chaminda Mendis
and Hemantha Wickramaratne, who is the only selector to receive a second
consecutive term, having also served in the last panel under Ashantha
de Mel.
The panel was also appointed for an indefinite period, a change from
previous years, where Sri Lanka had new panels every 12 months. "Under
the sports law, it's the minister's prerogative to hand down a term for
the selectors, but he hasn't done that this time," a spokesperson for
the sports ministry told ESPNcricinfo. "If the selectors are doing a
good job, they can continue."
Two of the five members are also likely to become full time SLC
employees, also a change from previous years, when all three selectors
were unpaid. SLC will meet with the new panel on Tuesday to discuss
which of them will come on board as paid staff.
Jayasuriya played 110 Tests for Sri Lanka and was captain in both
formats from 1999 to 2003. In 2008, he regained his place in the Sri
Lanka squad only after the then-sports minister intervened.
Jayasuriya's appointment mires SLC further in the nation's politics,
months after the board had said it would endeavour to remove the
political influence in Sri Lanka's cricket. Haroon Lorgat's review of
SLC recommended that the sports law be amended so that the minister is
no longer involved in selection, and although the board said the
minister had been receptive to the idea of an amendment, there have not
yet been any moves to remove him from the selection process. Under
current law, the minister approves each selection made by the panel in
addition to appointing the selectors.
Among the panel's first tasks will be to choose a new captain for Tests
and ODIs, following Mahela Jayawardene's resignation. Twenty20 captain
Angelo Mathews is tipped to take the reins in ODIs, but may not receive
the Test captaincy, after the minister said he would prefer to have two
separate captains.
Andrew Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. He tweets here
Feeds: Andrew Fernando
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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