SLC to resume suspended domestic cricket tournaments

The temporarily-halted domestic club cricket tournaments are set to resume from tomorrow, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement. 

The domestic Major Club 3-day tournament and the Tier B Club 3-day tournament were suspended earlier this month after a protest was lodged to the Sports Ministry in regards to changes made to the domestic tournament structure ahead of the ongoing season. 

The Ministry had subsequently informed SLC that they had not received consent for the changes, which is required as the domestic tournament structure has been incorporated into SLC Constitution. 

Any changes to the constitution of a sports association must be first approved by the Ministry before being presented to the general membership to be voted on and adopted. 

However, following discussions with SLC, the Ministry has now given its consent, making way for the two tournaments to begin. 

"The ministry wrote to us and informed that while they never asked us to stop the domestic tournaments, they have now clarified the issue they had and have given us the green light to resume," Samantha Dodanwela, Chairman of the Tournament Committee at SLC, told the Daily Mirror. 

The appeal stems from changes that the SLC membership unanimously agreed to at a Special General Meeting in June, that reduced the number of top tier cricket playing clubs from 26 to 22. 

The four clubs that were relegated from the top tier requested SLC to organize a three-day tournament for them to play in, the alternative being that they would compete in the Governor’s Trophy, which was a limited over tournament that would significantly reduce the quality and quantity of cricket they played. 

SLC considered this request and began a Tier B 3-Day tournament, inviting six clubs from the Governor’s Trophy to participate and strength the tournament. 

This move irked one of the lower ranked teams in the Governor's Trophy, Gesto Sports Club, who challenged this decision in courts and with the Sports Ministry. 

While the courts had allowed SLC to go ahead with the new format of the tournament until the next hearing of the case scheduled for later this month, the Sports Ministry appointed an Appeal Advisory Committee that adjudged that SLC could not consider the rankings of the 2022 season in determining which teams featured in the league. (Shehan Daniel)