SRI LANKA have been suspended from all international cricket for “serious breaches” of rules.
The country managed just two wins at the Cricket World Cup with seven defeats to leave them ninth in the table.
That prompted the country’s sports minister to fire the entire Sri Lanka Cricket board.
And now the team has been banned from all formats with immediate effect in a crushing blow.
The news also affects England.
Ben Stokes’ Test team were due to host Sri Lanka for a three-match series in England next summer – with fixtures at Old Trafford, Lord’s and The Oval.
The ICC said: “The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership of the ICC with immediate effect.
“The ICC Board met today and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka.
“The conditions of the suspension will be decided by the ICC Board in due course.”
Sri Lanka’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe sacked the entire Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board on Monday following their dismal World Cup campaign in India.
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An interim committee was put in place but Sri Lankan courts effectively reinstated the board a day later in a bizarre twist.
Now ESPN report the ICC slapped the SLC with the heavy punishment on the grounds of extensive government interference – including in the finance and national team matters.
Sri Lanka’s length of ban has not been specified, suggesting they are suspended indefinitely.
The ICC met online to discuss the Sri Lanka situation ahead of their next quarterly meeting from November 18-21, where the next steps are expected to be determined.
Zimbabwe were suspended on the same grounds in 2019.
In similar circumstances, the Zimbabwean sports and recreation commission replaced the entire cricket board.
