Sri Lanka Cricket‘s Cricket Transformation Committee has emerged from its first direct engagement with the ICC‘s senior leadership with more time to complete its constitutional reform agenda, after the global governing body chose dialogue over disciplinary action despite its discomfort with the country’s current governance structure. CTC Secretary Prakash Schaffter attended the ICC Chief Executives’ Meeting in Scotland, where he presented the committee’s reform progress and faced questions from senior officials including ICC Chairman Jay Shah, former Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja and ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta. Days after that meeting, the ICC Board reaffirmed that Sri Lanka Cricket would remain excluded from Board-level participation until an elected administration is restored.
ICC opts for engagement but makes its position clear
Schaffter’s account of the Edinburgh discussions draws a careful distinction between tolerance and approval. The ICC made no secret of its position on the current arrangement, but stopped well short of the sanctions it had available. Schaffter said in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Times: “They understood where we are coming from.” He added: “The discussions were cordial, constructive and based on understanding rather than confrontation.”
That tone, he argued, reflected a recognition by the ICC of the exceptional circumstances that led to the committee’s appointment rather than an endorsement of the interim model itself. The global body’s concerns centred squarely on the fact that Sri Lanka Cricket continues to operate outside the governance framework the ICC recognises as normal. “They made it very clear that they are not comfortable with the present arrangement. We accept that because it is not a normal situation. But we also explained why this temporary intervention became necessary and what we are doing to correct the governance deficiencies,” Schaffter noted.
He was direct about what the ICC could have done and chose not to. “They could have suspended Sri Lanka Cricket, stopped funding or prevented us from participating even at CEO level. None of that happened. Instead, they have recognised the need for dialogue and have given us time to complete this process,” he stated. As previously reported by cricexec, the ICC has a track record of firm action against Sri Lanka Cricket — stripping voting rights and placing funds in escrow in 2015 and imposing a full suspension in 2023 that cost the country the right to host the Men’s Under-19 World Cup. The decision not to escalate on this occasion represents a significant, if conditional, reprieve.
Committee presents itself as temporary by design
Schaffter used his appearance before the ICC’s Normalisation Committee to address the question that has shadowed the CTC since its appointment — whether the government-installed body constitutes genuine reform or political interference under a different name. He addressed that directly. “I explained that we see ourselves purely as an interim caretaker administration. Our sole purpose is to introduce a modern governance structure through a new constitution and then hand over to officials elected under that framework. We have absolutely no desire to remain in office,” he said.
As previously reported by cricexec, the nine-member committee was deliberately constructed to project independence from direct state control, bringing together former cricketers Kumar Sangakkara, Sidath Wettimuny and Roshan Mahanama alongside corporate professionals, two lawyers and former opposition Member of Parliament Eran Wickramaratne as Chair. That composition formed part of the credibility argument Schaffter took into Edinburgh, alongside the committee’s account of the structural weaknesses it inherited at Sri Lanka Cricket.
Governance reforms target deep structural failures
A significant portion of Schaffter’s ICC presentation focused on the long-standing institutional problems the committee identified after assuming office — weaknesses he was careful to frame as systemic rather than attributable to any single administration. One of the most striking concerned the constitutional requirement that administrators must have played first-class cricket, a restriction Schaffter described as incompatible with modern sports governance. “Good cricketers do not necessarily become good administrators. Around the ICC Board there are very few former international cricketers. Sports administration requires expertise in governance, finance, law and management. By limiting eligibility, Sri Lanka Cricket has excluded many capable professionals who could contribute to the game,” he continued.
The committee also took aim at the voting structure, which Schaffter argued had turned elections into exercises in political canvassing rather than genuine contests of governance capability. He said dozens of clubs and associations hold voting rights despite having only limited involvement in competitive cricket, and that the result is an incentive structure that rewards relationship management over long-term planning. His position is that voting rights should be redistributed to reflect actual contribution to the game.
The grant allocation system drew similar criticism. “When funding is allocated on an ad hoc basis, organisations inevitably become dependent on maintaining favourable relationships with those in office. That is not healthy governance. Financial assistance should be based on transparent principles and strategic priorities,” Schaffter said. He also told the ICC that the committee discovered the board had been heavily involved in operational decisions that should have rested with professional management — including the preparation of the organisation’s annual budget, a function Schaffter said management had played little role in prior to the committee’s arrival.
Financial position stable but reserves fall short of what they should be
Beyond governance, Schaffter addressed Sri Lanka Cricket’s financial health, describing the current position as stable without being secure. The organisation is not in acute financial difficulty, he said, but has failed over many years to build the kind of reserves that an institution generating significant revenues should have accumulated. He questioned how an organisation with Sri Lanka Cricket’s revenue history had arrived at its current position without a meaningful financial buffer, arguing that properly governed bodies use surplus years to build protection against future uncertainty.
Forensic audit faces ongoing delays
One of the committee’s most prominent commitments since taking office has been the completion of a forensic audit into Sri Lanka Cricket’s affairs, and it remains unfinished. Schaffter acknowledged the delay but attributed it to the sensitivity of the exercise rather than a lack of intent. “There are conflict-of-interest issues and there are firms reluctant to become involved because of Sri Lanka Cricket’s history of controversy. We remain committed to carrying out the forensic audit,” he noted.
Constitutional process enters its final stage
With the ICC having chosen engagement over punishment, the committee’s ability to deliver on its reform commitments now determines whether that goodwill holds. Schaffter was measured about the timeline. “We are nearing the end of our work. The draft constitution is almost complete and will shortly be handed over to the Government. After that, the legislative process is outside our control,” he said. He was clear, however, that the committee’s own ambition is not to extend its tenure but to conclude it. “We will continue urging the Government to expedite the process because, more than the ICC, we ourselves want Sri Lanka Cricket to return to normal governance,” Schaffter added.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s exclusion from ICC Board meetings will remain in place until that elected administration is in place. The committee has secured time, but the ICC has not altered its position on what the end state must look like — and the legislative process that determines when that can happen sits, for now, outside the committee’s hands.
