The Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) has proposed former cricketer Vinothen John name for the national selection committee, Cricket Age reliably learns. The Sports Ministry has asked SLC, including all 65 Sports bodies in the country, to submit ten names for the respective selection committee’s before May 30th.
Vinothen, who played 6 tests and 45 ODIs for Sri Lanka, is considered a loyalist of former SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala. Especially, during the recently concluded board election, he supported Sumathipala camp big time.
As a result, Vinothen John has emerged a ‘go to man’ for almost every new post at SLC. Few weeks ago, he was appointed as manager of one of the provincial team in the local domestic tournament.
Yesterday, Cricket Age had published that despite the poor performance in the current tenure, the SLC has decided to send the same four names – Asantha De Mel, Brendon Kurruppu, Hemantha Wickramaratne and Chaminda Mendis along with Vinothen John- to the Sports Ministry.
The selection committee, led by Asantha De Mel, had been appointed on November 25, amidst the political drama in the country. Obviously, the appointment of Asantha and other selectors was also a politically influenced decision. While De Mel enjoys the backing of a top politician, Kurruppu and Chaminda Mendis were also included in the committee due to some ‘non cricketing’ reasons.
