ICC lifts Sri Lanka Cricket’s suspension with immediate effect

Sunday, January 28 brought some good news for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to lift its suspension imposed in November immediately after their final group stage match in the World Cup 2023 against New Zealand. As per ICC, SLC as a board member violated the “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” regulation.

A 112-page long report was filed by Sri Lanka’s auditor general accusing SLC of poor governance, corruption and misuse of funds. SLC President Shammi Silva was sacked following the report during the World Cup. There was an appeal in the court regarding the sacking and ICC decided to reinstate the board yet again before bringing back the suspension till it was revoked finally this time around.

The ICC allowed the national team to play despite suspending the board, however, the biggest loss for SLC during that period was the hosting rights for the Under-19 World Cup 2024. Sri Lanka had the sole hosting rights of the Junior World Cup but since the board of the country was suspended, the hosting rights were awarded to South Africa.

Sri Lanka senior team played the Zimbabwe series and the junior team took part in the Under19 World Cup but the board had to wait longer than that for the ICC to revoke the ban. 

“The ICC Board has been monitoring the situation since the suspension and are now satisfied that SLC are no longer in breach of membership obligations,” the ICC said in a release. 

Sri Lanka Cricket’s next home assignment is against Afghanistan, which includes one Test, three ODIs and as many T20Is starting February 2.