My aim is to save Sri Lanka’s cricket – President

President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised that he does not support any faction and only stands for the preservation of Sri Lankan cricket.

The President also pointed out that the law of the game should be completely changed without any band-aid solutions and that the Chithrasiri Report should be properly implemented in order to solve the cricket crisis.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed these views during a meeting with members of the ruling party yesterday (9) at the Parliament complex.

He also mentioned that the International Cricket Council is keeping an eye on Sri Lankan cricket and everyone should work together to ensure that there is no international influence on Sri Lankan cricket.

The President pointed out that the debate in the Parliament on the cricket programme is timely and said that the people did not approve of some of the statements made on the judicial process in the Parliament on the previous day.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, added that the Chithrasiri report which is most suitable for cricket should be implemented. “My view is that appointing interim committees for this purpose is not enough,” he said.

“I suggested names to the minister because if he takes this to court, it can be stopped. And we discussed this in the Cabinet. Anyhow, this matter has now gone to court.

“These are all temporary solutions,” he said. The President opined that a complete rule change would be more appropriate.

“Cricket was started by J.R.Jayewardene and Gamini Dissanayake. At that time, I was entrusted with the responsibility of developing school cricket. That is how our first team came to the forefront”, he said.

“After that, the 1996 team emerged and won the World Cup. So, we have to develop the game of cricket again. I do not represent any faction or party.

I have only one party. It is the Sri Lankan cricket faction. The authorities have been instructed to improve it. My only fear is that the International Cricket Council had spoken about this yesterday. We have to ensure that it will not affect us. Let us adopt this proposal presented today,”the President said yesterday.