Aravinda de Silva has put down his papers from SLC's Cricket Committee

On May 4, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) suffered a massive blow after former captain Aravinda de Silva resigned from the board’s Cricket Committee. One of the game’s finest entertainers, he had a unruffable technique and was an unrepentant attacker. De Silva has several unbroken records to his name and is remembered for a match-winning ton in a World Cup final.

Sri Lanka’s cricket authorities, realising the importance of his cricketing experience, appointed him a national selector. Arvinda led the Sri Lankan side in the 1992 World Cup. In the early 1990s, he captained Sri Lanka in 6 Tests and 18 ODIs but never managed to win a Test as captain. After retiring from Test cricket in 2002, he called curtains on his career right after the 2003 World Cup. His team made it to the semi-final and lost the game against Australia.

Sources in Sri Lankan Cricket Board revealed to Cricbuzz that the former skipper has handed over his resignation letter to the SLC. Although de Silva was not available for comments, sources close to him revealed that he was not happy with the board making major decisions without consulting the committee, which is the advisory panel to SLC on cricket matters.

De Silva modernised SLC’s coaching department and that earned him high praise from all quarters. When Australia were whitewashed 3-0 by Sri Lanka in a Test series last year, captain Angelo Mathews credited de Silva’s contributions to the series win.

SLC president was earlier this month quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying, “We all know of Aravinda de Silva’s experience, his knowledge and his ability to work constructively with people around him. So we have made this request of him, because our cricket needs to tap into those resources.” However, the request, as evident, has been futile.