Sports minister asserts his powers

Asantha de Mel stays on as chief selector © Cricinfo

The row between Gamini Lokuge, the Sri Lankan Sports minister and the Sri Lankan cricket board over the appointment of chief cricket selector Ashantha de Mel has worsened with the minister asserting that he has the final say in matters regarding appointment of selectors. De Mel's term as selector was extended till July 31 by the minister despite his name not being included in the list submitted to the ministry.

While it is not uncommon for a minister to pick people not on lists submitted to the ministry, he has extended his powers to all national sports in the country. Lokuge said that he wanted all national sports bodies including Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to send 10 names to his ministry for consideration. A final decision would then be made by the director-general of sports and other officials.

"What is happening now is that sports bodies on their own pick the selectors and send the list to the ministry for approval," Lokuge told AFP. "These selections do not necessarily happen on merit."

Lokuge had ignored a list sent to him by the cricket board, extending the terms of de Mel and the other selectors, Don Anurasiri, Shabir Asgerally and Amal Silva till July 31. The minister ignored calls for de Mel's dismissal, after a disagreement between de Mel and the board over comments he had made about the three-match Abu Dhabi series against Pakistan being ill-timed.

De Mel, who is close to the government, was criticised by the board's chief executive Duleep Mendis for his comments. Mendis added that nothing could be done as the series had already been confirmed. This led to a confrontation between the sports ministry, which backed de Mel and the cricket board.

De Mel's next assignment as selector will be to pick squads for a series against Bangladesh, whom Sri Lanka are due to host for three Test matches and three one-day internationals from mid-June.