Sri Lanka resets date for cricket election

Colombo: Elections to appoint office-bearers to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were today postponed from December 27 to January 3 next year.

"The election will be held on January 3. This is a change from the decision to hold it on 27 December. We realised that the financial year ends only on December 31 and the election must be held thereafter," Ranjani Jayakodi, the Director General of sports, said. She, however, said there was no change to the period of nominations which begins here today, carried through over 14 days. The SLC elections are to take place for the first time since 2004 after successive politically appointed interim committees ran the administration. In the last election, Tilanga Sumathipala had defeated Arjuna Ranatunga for the top post. Sources close to Sumathipala, who is now a member of parliament from the ruling UPFA coalition, said the former president of SLC had summoned representatives from all voting clubs to a meeting. He wants to assess his chances of being elected. The chairman of the last of the interim committees, businessman Upali Dharmadasa, is being seen as a front-runner to the position. Sumathipala was a vice-President under Dharmadasa in the first elected administration of 1996, immediately after Sri Lanka emerged world champions defeating Australia. The SLC administration is currently in financial dire straits with unpaid salaries and contract payments of players. It awaits government cash to stay afloat. PTI