Sarathchandra resigns following Sanath Jayasuriya and Co.

The existing turmoil in Sri Lankan Cricket is a renowned phenomenon by now but the situation is fast spiralling down for the island nation as administrators are resigning from their designated post at the rate of knots. Shortly after Chief Selector Sanath Jayasuriya stepped down along with the other members of the Selection Committee, the security manager of Sri Lankan Cricket, Sarathchandra, also resigned in a matter of hours.

The name of Sarathchandra, a senior DIG STF officer, is highly respected across the Sri Lankan cricket circuit. According to sources, President of Sri Lankan Cricket Thilanga Sumathipala slammed Sarathchandra for his failure to contain the crowd at Pallekele stadium.

The magnitude of the situation at Kandy was so tense that Match referee Andy Pycroft demanded report for the security measures in the upcoming games. He also reported about the scenario at Pallekele to higher officials demanding an assurance that such instances do not occur in future. Apparently, Pycroft suggested Sri Lankan Cricket CEO, Ashley de Silva that their security plan wasn’t up to the mark and no steps were taken to bring it under control.

Sumathipala lambasted at Sarathchandra

If reports from CricketAge are to be believed, this left Sri Lankan Cricket President Thilanga Sumathipala fuming and blamed Sarathchandra for the lapses. Indians have had a history of crowd expressing their displeasure and throwing objects on the field but such instances have never occurred in the glorious history of Sri Lankan cricket.

The anguish from the crowd came in the aftermath of a series of disappointing performances from the Sri Lankans off-late. Following their torrid tour of South Africa, the Lankans were defeated by Bangladesh in the Test series. Things went bad to worse post-Sri Lankan ouster in the recently concluded Champions Trophy as they faced a humiliating defeat in the ODI series against Zimbabwe. The crowd finally gave in and expressed their disappointment as India was on the verge of clinching the ODI series by 3-0, following the Test series whitewash.