Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was First registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports as the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka on 30 June 1975 as a national sports body. The board was renamed in 2003.
The SLC operates all of the Sri Lankan national representative cricket sides, including the Men's, Women's, Under-19 and Under-17 sides. The SLC is also responsible for organising and hosting Test tours and one day internationals with other nations, and scheduling the home international fixtures.
History
Cricket was brought to the nation when it was colonized by the British. As everywhere that the British arrived in numbers, cricket soon followed and it is reasonable to assume that the game was first played on the island by 1800. The earliest definite mention of cricket in Ceylon was a report in the Colombo Journal on 5 September 1832 which called for the formation of a cricket club. The Colombo Cricket Club was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1833 when it played against the 97th Regiment.
Throughout the 20th century, the game became increasingly popular in Sri Lanka. It was in the 1975 inaugural Cricket World Cup that they made their international debut. They lost to the West Indies by 9 wickets. They did however turn heads at the same tournament with an excellent display in their match against Australia. The national team won the ICC Trophy in 1979. On 21 July 1981, Sri Lanka was admitted to full membership of the ICC and was awarded Test Match status. The inaugural Test was played at Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo in February 1982 against England that Sri Lanka lost by 8 wickets. Sri Lanka won the 1996 Cricket World Cup by defeating Australia. Sri Lanka won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 by defeating India.
In 2023, SLC faced accusations of corruption and declining standards, with Minister for Sports Roshan Ranasinghe having considered its board to be "traitorous and corrupt". After being eliminated from the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Ranasinghe called for the resignation of the SLC board. On 6 November 2023, after the board's secretary Mohan De Silva resigned, Ranasinghe removed the entire SLC board and replaced them with a seven-member interim committee led by Arjuna Ranatunga—captain of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup-winning team. The next day, in response to a petition by the board's president Shammi Silva, the Appeal Court ruled that the previous board was to be reinstated for a period of two weeks pending hearings.
On 10 November 2023, the ICC suspended SLC for failing to meet "the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration". While the board of the ICC ruled that the suspension would not affect Sri Lanka's day-to-day participation in international cricket, the country was stripped of its rights to host the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. On 28 January 2024, the ICC lifted the suspension, after its board ruled that SLC were no longer in breach of membership obligations.
On 29 April 2026, Shammi Silva, president of Sri Lanka Cricket, along with all office-bearers and members of the executive committee, resigned from their posts with immediate effect. Eran Wickramaratne, a former Member of Parliament, was appointed chairman of a nine-member interim committee (Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee) to manage Sri Lanka Cricket until fresh elections are conducted. The appointment was made by Sunil Kumara Gamage, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, to address current issues in the sport and implement structural reforms.
Domestic competitions Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions in the country: T10 Lanka T10 T20 Lanka Premier League Major Clubs T20 Tournament SLC Invitational T20 League First Class Major League Tournament National Super League 4-Day Tournament List A Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament National Super League Limited Over Tournament
They also organize and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament, a competition focusing on provincial-level teams with pooled talent rather than on individual cricket clubs.
Former Competitions Premier Limited Overs Tournament SLC Invitational T20 League Sri Lanka Premier League(2012) SLC Twenty20 Tournament SLC T20 League(2018) Super T20 Provincial Tournament Sri Lanka Cricket Super 4's T20(2013–2014)
Leadership Presidents Name TenureCeylon Cricket Association (1914–1948)Col. Dr. John R. Rockwood1914–1933 (19 Years)Edwin M. Karunaratne1933–1934 (1 Year)Chandrarajan Sivasaravanamuttu1937–1948 (9 Years)Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon (1948–1972)Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu1948–1950 (2 Years)A. E. Christoffelsz1950–1952 (2 Years)Junius Richard Jayewardene1952–1955 (3 Years) Lt. Col. Sabdharatnajyoti Saravanamuttu1955–1956 (1 Year)Robert Senanayake1956–1972 (16 Years)Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (1972–2000)Sai Senanayakerajah1972–1976 (8 Years)Maj. Gen. Bertram Heyn1976–1978 (2 Years)Dr. N. M. Perera1978–1979 (1 Year)T. B. Werapitiya1979–1981 (2 Years)Gamini Dissanayake1981–1989 (8 Years)Lakshman Jayakody1989–1990 (1 Year)Manane Chandrarajah1990–1991 (1 Year)Tyronne Fernando1991–1994 (3 Years)Anandarajasingh Punchihewa1995–1996 (1 Year)Upali Dharmadasa1996–1998 (2 Years)Thilanga Sumathipala1998–1999 (1 Year)Rienzie Wijetilleke1999–2000 (1 Year)Thilanga Sumathipala2000–2001 (1 Year)Vijaya Malalasekera2001–2002 (1 Year)Hemaka Amarasuriya2002–2003 (1 Year)Sri Lanka Cricket (2003 – present)Thilanga Sumathipala2003–2004 (1 Year Term)Mohan De Silva2004–2005 (1 Year Term)Jayantha Dharmadasa2005–2007 (Interim Committee) Arjuna Ranatunga2008 (Interim Committee)S. Liyanagama2008–2009 (Interim Committee/Ministry Secretary)Somachandra de Silva2009–2011 (Interim Committee)Upali Dharmadasa2011–2012 (1 Year Term)Jayantha Dharmadasa2013–2015 (2 Years Term)Sidath Wettimuny2015 (Interim Committee)Thilanga Sumathipala2016–2018 (2 Years Term)Kamal Padmasiri (Ministry Secretary)2018 (1 June to 14 December) (7 Months)W.A Chulananda (Ministry Secretary) 15 December 2018 to 18 February 2019) (3 Months)Shammi Silva2019–2021 (2 Years Term)Shammi Silva2021–2023 (2 Years Term)Shammi Silva2023–2025 (2 Years Term)Eran Wickremaratne2026—present
Vice-Presidents Killi Rajamahendran (Early 1980s) Shelley Wickramasinghe (mid-1980s) Thilanga Sumathipala Aravinda de Silva (2003–2004) K. Mathivanan Asanga Seneviratne Jayantha Dharmadasa (2016 – present) K. Mathivanan (2016–2019) Ravin Wickramaratne (2019 – present)
Secretaries Kushil Gunasekara (2002) Mohan De Silva (2003) Lourence Amarasena (2004) S. Liyanagama Michael de Zoysa Nishantha Ranatunga (March 2009 – July 2011) Nishantha Ranatunga (2012–2015) Mohan De Silva (2016–2023)
Assistant Secretaries Ravin Wickramaratne (2004) Hirvanamuthu Kulendran Ravin Wickramaratne (2016–2019) Chryshantha Kapuwatta (2019 – present)
Treasurers Tryphon Miranda (2002) Nuski Mohamed (2004) Sujeewa Rajapakshe (January 2008 – July 2011) Nuski Mohamed (2012–2013) Shammi Silva (2016–2019) Lasantha Wickramasinghe (2019–2022) Sujeewa Godaliyadda (2023 – present)
Assistant Treasurers Lucien Merinnage (2004) Ajith Sivasamy (2012–2013) Shammi Silva (2014–2015) Lalith Rambukwella (2016–2019) Sujeewa Godaliyadda (2019–2022) Lasantha Wickramasinghe (2023 – present)
References
External links Official website