SLC overstaffed?

17 February 2023 11:15 pm - 10 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A A A

Monthly combined salaries of over Rs. 57 million
Number of staff increased five fold since Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996
Some staff members hold voting rights as members of clubs, but SLC says preventive measures taken at ensure they are not involved in voting or AGMs

By Amindha de Alwis

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) stated that their existing staffing levels, which amount to 185 employees on their payroll, is justified given their continuing growth.

A public perception exists that SLC is over-staffed beyond requirements, and the Dailymirror sought both sides of the story regarding the matter.

As of December 2022, SLC had 185 staff on its payroll, with their combined salaries exceeding Rs. 57 million; the number of staff employed being close to five times the number as when Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996.

Secretary of SLC Mohan de Silva commented that the number in employment was justified, citing that the game has progressed significantly with much more women’s and junior cricket, for instance, being played in the island.

He detailed the number of matches to be held in 2023 across Major Club tournaments, the Governor’s Trophy, Women’s tournaments, as well as Inter-Provincial and Youth Tournaments, showing a marked increase in games when compared to four years back. He added that the National Super League and Lanka Premier League were also introduced recently.

In terms of finances, de Silva stated that their accounts are audited by the Auditor General and that SLC has seen a sharp growth in revenue in recent years, recording revenue levels of Rs. 17.5 billion last year and Rs. 7.9 billion in 2021. Revenue in the preceding years of 2020 and 2019 read Rs. 4.1 billion and Rs. 4.4 billion, respectively.

“Compared to the number of employees around 2011-2013, there has been an increase in numbers. I acknowledge the fact. But the fact is, we have expanded. We have grown financially, and we are playing more tournaments now,” de Silva said.

De Silva also touched upon the success of the Lanka Premier League as part of that growth.

“We realised the importance of playing league cricket to improve our standards and keep pace with the rest of the world. In the height of the pandemic, we were lucky to stage this event, thanks to the blessings of the then government and the Sports Minister.”

"Not only did we provide opportunities for our young and emerging players to improve their skills and standards, we were able to identify a lot of new talent, and also, we were successful in running it profitably. We made almost 1 million dollars in revenue in the first year,” he commented.

However, De Silva did concede that SLC may be over-staffed when compared to other cricket boards around the world.

“Compared to some of the other countries, we may be over-staffed, but Sri Lanka and our admin structure is different. It differs from a state model such as Australia. Sri Lanka is a small country operating from head office and supports the provinces and districts under us with the minimum staff,” he said.

On the other hand, a top sports official alleged that many of the staff employed are voters or connected to voters at SLC elections.

He drew into question how many of these individuals came through a standard recruitment process, particularly at provincial and district levels, expressing that the numbers employed were far beyond what they were.

When questioned on if employees with voting rights are present among the 185 names listed under their payroll, de Silva acknowledged that some are members of clubs but that SLC does take preventive measures to ensure that they are not involved in the voting process and never entertained at AGMs.

CEO of SLC Ashley de Silva did not put forward any comments regarding the matter.

While the growth of the game cannot be disputed, it is contested whether there exists a requirement for as many general administrative staff as currently present, as opposed to a situation where the bulk of new staff are those connected with enhancing the technical aspect of the game.

Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

Comments - 10

Shera Saturday, 18 February 2023 01:00 AM

In other words, in 1996 you had 1/5th of the staff but they were more efficient than x5 you have now. Sorry not buying the justification by SLC. Go back to drawing board and come up with a better excuse to retain a parliament-sized staff. Out of 846 ODI matches you won less than half. How many major championships have you won since 1996? Only 5? Taking on more tournaments seems meaningless when you are under-performing. SLC should be more selective in your games; train with only well-paid experts the rest of the year and reduce your staff expenditure which is a ridiculous waste of funds.

Tissa Fernando Saturday, 18 February 2023 07:35 AM

More than the staff, the real issues are with the benefits received by the officials and their privileged families. That cost is several times more than the staff cost.

Clubs pushing in their people for high paid jobs in SLC Saturday, 18 February 2023 08:34 AM

SLC making up excuses after giving jobs to friends and political appointees. It is a thoroughly corrupt organisation, which in turn is the cause of our ongoing poor losses. Woman's cricket is not followed, and woman cricketers are also disgrace in behaviour. Everything about SLC is deteriorating. with

Citizen k Saturday, 18 February 2023 09:21 AM

Poor returns for the investment.Athletes bring in more glory and very little investment is made on them.They are mostly sponsored.Why are other games totally ignored?

Excuses are poor and unfair Saturday, 18 February 2023 09:55 AM

SLC saying we are small country so need over-sized staff is reminiscent of our military being 300,000 which is many times the size of Australia's. Too many administrative staff is definitively the size of inefficiency. Those staff as mentioned do not contribute technically to improving cricket, but just warming seats. The new dollar revenue is from signing up overseas sponsors, nothing to do with the excessive administrative staff either.

Pol Adi Karaya Saturday, 18 February 2023 11:30 AM

Hopefully, the Minister will not listen to the silly excuses invented by SLC and deal with this corrupt gang once and forever.

Roberta Flack Saturday, 18 February 2023 12:33 PM

SLC is a den of corruption. You don’t have to have cricketers as administrators. You need people who have succeeded after having come-up the hard way and earned their money legitimately to take-up office. Ana Punchihewa being the exemplary corporate leader Vs Sumathipala and the Nawaloka’s who have all used methods of corruption to get to where they had to

Marcus Sunday, 19 February 2023 12:22 AM

The money earned by the Cricket board belongs to the country, and board should spend large portion of money to build grounds to play soft ball cricket for the benefit of all the youth and children across the country. Apart from the enjoyment and physical health benefits, this will create more interest on the game, and will create more talents. Set a target, 25 soft ball cricket grounds each year, rather than spending lavishly for the benefits of few individuals.

S.p.m Sunday, 19 February 2023 12:56 PM

Slc pay some big salaries for codinators .but all of them club voters.thay are no job at all.once a month gatherd to hotel eat and go for these guys job.somebody hold more clubs they get more money.one of them never played frist class cricket now he is the counsultent of the coaches.but this guy never faced coaches .

cricketer Sunday, 19 February 2023 06:05 PM

With the value of the US dollar skyrocketing over the Sri Lankan rupee SLC has benefited immensely due to it's close ties with international cricket and the ICC as a result SLC has a staff of 185 employees. For a small country such as Sri Lanka with a population of only 23 million it sounds ridiculous that it has more staff numbers than India wth a total population of more than 1.5 billion In addition SLC is also subsidised by the BCCI the Board of Control for Cricket in India which provides 60% of the revenue to the ICC the governing body for international cricket.

Add comment
Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.

SLC overstaffed?

Comments - 10

Add comment

RECOMMENDED

‘Spike in blast fishing’ poses renewed threats to Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystems

UDA owned land in Thalawathugoda; UDA Minister Prasanna Ranatunga under the spotlight for forceful occupation of reserved land

Loss-making SMIB faces political pressure in recovering loans

Baltimore Bridge Collapse: MV Dali, SL authorities anchored in mystery?

Has Sri Lanka become a potential hub for the illegal wildlife trade?

Spotlight on Moragahakanda Development Project Moragolla villagers lose livelihoods and down to one meal a day

Ambitious Sri Lankan jobseekers ‘trafficked into Ukraine war zones’

Most Viewed in News

SL on alert on possible genocide allegations by Canada

Sri Lankan among NASA’s new crew for next simulated Mars journey

Ranil Wickremesinghe caravan moves on despite barking dogs

Street food vendor arrested for verbally harassing foreigner

Former MP Palitha Thewarapperuma dies from electrocution

Train fails to halt, crashes onto Colombo Fort platform

MIRROR CRICKET

Is Chamari Athapaththu Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketer ever?

Athapaththu back atop ICC Women’s ODI Batting Rankings

Chamari Athapaththu sets big goal for T20 World Cup

How does CSK get best out of Pathirana?

TODAY'S HEADLINES

SL took minimal steps to punish officials who committed human rights abuses: US report

Iranian President’s visit Sri Lanka withstands western pressure

25 tons of solid waste disposed along Sri Pada route

Temperature rises to ‘Caution’ level

Sri Lanka secures third spot in South Asian Kurash Championship 2024

Athapaththu back atop ICC Women’s ODI Batting Rankings

Army forms committee to probe Diyatalawa Fox Hill Supercross accident

Indian cricket manager indicted for Legend Cricket League match-fixing allegations