Sri Lanka to probe ousted cricket board

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Lakshman Kiriella has appointed a five-member panel to probe the activities of the cricket control board he sacked in March triggering a spate of court cases.

Head of the five-member panel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya said he had been asked to investigate allegations of corruption amid charges of financial mismanagement by the sacked board which was headed by Thilanga Sumathipala.

"There are lots of allegations made in newspapers and here and there, but what we are saying is that if any affiliated club or individual has any information or complaint to get in touch with us," Warnakulasuriya said.

The minister appointed an interim panel to run the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) in March.

However, the interim panel went into a spin when a court ordered last week that it should not operate the bank accounts until a case filed by sacked Sumathipala is heard on June 1.

The sports ministry has said it will fund the cricket board until the legal obstacles are cleared.

The interim-panel recently announced that they were carrying out an audit to find out how much money was in the kitty when the previous committee was sacked in March.

The latest probe is in addition to the audit.

The sports minister charged that the sacked board did not submit its accounts a month ahead of its annual meet as required and presented the accounts only about two weeks before the annual general meeting .

Sumathipala said the Colombo Commercial Court ruling had vindicated his stand and he was pressing the authorities to restore democratic elections and have a new committee appointed to run the BCCSL.

Mail Cricket Editor