Sri Lanka mulls opposing ICC structural changes

Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket is set to oppose the proposed changes in the ICC administrative structure which seeks to place India, Australia and England in a position of power over the rest of the membership.

"It poses a serious challenge to Sri Lanka Cricket set-up," Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said without elaborating. He said the SLC`s executive committee would meet here on January 23 to take an official stance on the proposals which would then be conveyed to the ICC. The radical reforms in a "position paper" drawn up by a working group of the ICC`s Finance & Commercial Affairs (F&CA) committee is due to be put to the ICC Executive Board at its quarterly meeting in Dubai on January 28-29. Critics argue that almost every recommendation of the "position paper" gives a larger share of control over world cricket to the Australian, English and Indian cricket boards - both in the boardroom and on the field. Cricket South Africa (CSA), the only board so far to publicly oppose the draft, has said that the structural overhaul of world cricket administration will effectively cede most executive decision-making to the BCCI, Cricket Australia and the ECB. The three boards would also get a larger share of revenues, in a ratio that is linked to the ICC`s revenue growth. CSA says their revenue as a result of the plan would fall below that of Pakistan.