SLC Secretary responds

For the interest of the Cricket loving public we publish herewith the Right Of Reply from Mr. Nishantha Ranatunga , Hony Secretary, Sri Lanka Cricket  for the article published in the Island News Paper, Sports Section  on 21st October 2010  with the  caption ‘Now Nishantha takes ICC for a ride”

We at SLC assure our best efforts in carrying out proper governance and furthermore not to mislead our readers.

I write with reference to the article titled ‘Now Nishantha takes ICC for a ride’ that was published in the “Island” newspaper of the 21″’of October 2010.

The aforesaid article under the above title contains a number of inaccuracies and falsehood which in my opinion has been designed with a view of maliciously attacking me and the interim administration of the SLC. Furthermore, I have been advised that the said article contains material which is unsubstantiated and incorrect and in the light of the stated situation the entire article is defamatory.

I wish to write to you for the purpose of clarifying certain sections highlighted in the aforesaid article which in my opinion, would tantamount to character assassination at its best, coupled with the malicious modus operandi of bringing disrepute to Sri Lanka cricket , the players, the members of the senior hierarchy of the country’s cricket administration who have immensely contributed to the game and proved the individual prowess and excelled at the fields they are involved in, and to me in particular.

Please note the following and I kindly request you to publish same as my version of the story as a right of reply.

a) In your article you have stated “….when ICC released its latest playing handbook for players ,officials, administrators and the media yesterday ,in the section that had details on Sri Lanka Cricket ,Nishantha Ranatunga was named as the CEO of SLC.”

It appears that through the publication of this statement, it is intended to show that I have misled the ICC by representing myself to be the CEO of SLC. I deny ever having done this and in fact it is the ICC which had made a mistake in naming me as the CEO of SLC. No sooner I read the article this morning than I sought a clarification from the Head of Media & Communications of the International Cricket Council Mr. Colin Gibson who has stated that

” I understand that there has been some issues with the local media .Let me apologize for the error in the playing Handbook .A simple but honest error was made by someone who is no longer with the company, He failed to double check titles and that has led to the this area I will ensure that the processes are improved as we go forward and that will seek to ensure that this sort error will not happen again. I have read the appalling article and we have told that this was nothing to do with you but an honest error in our office,”

Thorough an official e-mail written to me with CC to Mr. Haroon Lorgat – CEO of the International Cricket Council and Mr. David Becker Head of Legal of the ICC. I have attached herewith a copy of the said e-mail which is self explanatory. I believe this will clear your skeptics that I had portrayed myself as the CEO of SLC .I earnestly request you to publish the said e mail from Mr. Collin Gibson along with my right of reply.

b) I also wish to request you to refrain from publishing statements such as “…….he even went to the extent of getting rid of former test captain Duleep Mendis from the position of CEO.” which would mislead the public that I was responsible for the termination of services of Mr. Duleep Mendis whose tenure of permanent employment had well exceeded by 02 years than the stipulated period of 55 years granted to any permanent employee of the SLC. The decision to request the permanent employees, who had exceeded the stipulated period of time which is stated in the employment agreement of the permanent employees of SLC, to retire, was taken consequent to a recommendation by the Sri Lanka Institute Of Development Administration which carried out a Cadre review report as the said task was required by the Ministry of Sports. The special SLIDA committee was appointed by the then Sports Minister Hon Gamini Lokuge.

Further, I wish to firmly mention that an offer was made to Mr. Duleep mendis to continue his employment as a contracted staff member which was declined by Mr. Mendis thus expressing his unwillingness to accept the offer.

If you are of the opinion that Mr. Mendis was sidelined or asked to leave it is a little more than a surprise why you do not refer to the other two employees Mr. S. Suppan(Labourer) and Mr. S A. Siripala who were served in the same manner Mr. Mendis was served. Mr. S. Suppan and S.A Siripala still continue to work at SLC since they accepted the similar offers made to them by the SLC administration to continue to work as a contract staff member. I fathom either you have been given wrong information or you have mislead yourself on the said issue and continue to insult me and create a severe pain of mind to me by holding responsible and for that matter, by shaping a public opinion against me for an act for which I am not personally or individually responsible. I ought to mention that a cordial relationship has continued between Mr. Mendis and me since our playing days to date and your malicious comments would probably pave the way for creating ruptures in that relationship between Mr. Mendis and me. I kindly request you to abstain from resorting to this type of untoward actions and approaches which are not acceptable in a civilized world. If you wish to further carry your investigations I shall make available any relevant document in connection to the said issues for your better comprehension.

c) As for your allegation that I have globe trotted at the expense of SLC , I would like to invite you to have a discussion with the members of the Interim committee and the administration hierarchy where you would be able to find answers for why I was authorized by the administration to represent the SLC at crucial and important ICC meetings, after which I hope you would clear your doubts and cease to tarnish my image for collective agreements taken by the administration.

d) With regard to your allegation as you have stated that I have only attended two meetings of my own club Colts CC where I am a vice president, I request you to verify the same with the president of the Colts Mr. K Mativanan to determine the number of meetings I have attended as the vice president of the said club. Moreover, I shall not need to stress that my self interests are always overridden by the duties expected from me in my capacity as the secretary of the SLC, which demands a lot of commitment. In that sense at times it is not only the meetings of the Colts cricket club but also at the meetings of other clubs and societies such as Old Anandian Sports Club & its cricket wing where I am an absentee. I firmly believe that honesty can not be substituted and conscience can not be compromised, and one should not demean one’s self in the face of unsubstantiated allegations.

Over the last few weeks I have observed that the Island News paper has continued a malicious campaign against the Sri Lanka Cricket, Players and me . It is regretted that we at the SLC has never been questioned before these baseless articles were published.

At a time the whole nation and Sri Lanka Cricket are getting ready to experience a repetition of the victorious achievements at the 1996 World Cup, would not this jeopardize the hopes of every cricket loving Sri Lankan has ahead of the forthcoming ICC world Cup. What is more worrying to me is the fact that most of the allegations leveled at me in person and at Sri Lanka Cricket the members of the Interim committee and players are baseless which can not be expected to stem from a renowned news paper such as ‘The Island’.

I decided to write to you in order to clarify certain issues pointed out by you in the said article, which I have all the reasons to believe, is targeted to bring disrepute to me.

Nishantha Ranatunga

Hony Secretary

Sri Lanka Cricket