Graeme Labrooy set to be Sri Lanka's next chief selector

Former Sri Lankan international Graeme Labrooy is set to become the team’s next chief selector. The news was confirmed by both Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board president Thilanga Sumathipala and Graeme Labrooy himself on Friday. The board also wishes to acquire the services of Brendon Kuruppu in the selection committee, but Kuruppu is reluctant to engage himself at the moment.

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The reason behind the same is that Kuruppu was one of the members of the selection committee who were relieved of their duties by this very board. The other members who will work with Graeme Labrooy in his committee are yet to be decided. The SLC announced that the rest of the committee members will be elected on September 18th.

“I have given my consent to SLC,” Labrooy said. “We’ll go through the names and confirm the other selectors later.” he added.

Graeme Labrooy is currently serving as an ICC match referee, but usually at a lower level than the national team plays. However, there might be a clash between the boards regarding the matter and Labrooy is trying to get help from the ICC about the proceedings.

The 25 member Sri Lankan squad that will engage themselves in a Test series against Pakistan has already been chosen. The new selection committee’s first project will be to select the 15 member squad that will travel to the UAE – including Sri Lanka’s maiden day-night Test – later this month.

In a career that stretched from 1986 to 1992, Graeme Labrooy represented Sri Lanka in 9 Tests and 44 ODIs. The 53-year-old has 27 wickets under his belt including a memorable 5 wicket haul in Brisbane. Labrooy was also a referee in the ongoing match of the Shpageeza Super League when the horrific blast took place near the stadium. However, the veteran managed to escape unharmed along with other Sri Lankans in the name of Sanath Jayasuriya and Farveez Maharoof.