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Former Sri Lanka head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has resigned from his role as advisor to Sri Lanka Cricket’s High Performance Centre, with full effect at the end of May.
The resignation comes after it was revealed that Jayasuriya was also the president of the Matara District Cricket Association and this would be classified as a conflict of interest.
Sanath Jayasuriya resigns to transition committee
Last month, the Sri Lankan government resigned the executive body of the SLC led by President Shammi Silva and appointed a nine-member transition committee to oversee the transition.
Apart from former cricketer Sidath Wettimuny, the committee also includes Sanath Jayasuriya’s national teammates Kumar Sangakkara and Roshan Mahanama.
The committee will be chaired by opposition politician Eran Wickramaratne, nominated by Sports Minister Sunil Kumar Gamage.
The same committee had pointed out the conflict of interest and asked Jayasuriya to tender his resignation. Jayasuriya accepted and left the high-performance role to continue serving Matara Cricket
“Accepted responsibility because it was requested” – Jayasuriya
In his resignation letter addressed to the committee, Sanath Jayasuriya said that he had become aware of this potential conflict of interest and the concerns raised by some members of the committee.
Jayasuriya said that he accepted the responsibilities not because of employment requirements, but because he was requested to assist Sri Lanka Cricket during a challenging period for the national team.
Addressing concerns regarding his involvement with the Matara District Cricket Association, Jayasuriya stressed that the development of cricket in Matara is very important to him as a player who has emerged from the district. He said that former cricketers should be encouraged to contribute to the development of cricket at the grassroots level and said that he personally did not consider his responsibilities to be conflicting.
However, Jayasuriya stated that if members of the new administration deemed the two roles incompatible, he would rather continue to serve the development of cricket in Matara than remain in a more official role within the system.
The former Sri Lankan opener also said that he does not want to hinder the work of the new administration and expressed hope that the Cricket Transformation Committee will be successful in bringing Sri Lanka cricket back to its glory days.
Jayasuriya further stressed that his support for Sri Lanka cricket and Sri Lankan cricketers would never depend on official position. He said he would continue to support the sport and contribute to its progress from outside the formal structures of administration.
Sanath Jayasuriya’s previous roles in Sri Lankan cricket
Apart from his stint as captain during his playing days, Sanath Jayasuriya has played many different roles in Sri Lankan cricket.
He served two separate stints as the chairman of selectors of Sri Lanka. His first term lasted between 2013 and 2015. In this period, Sri Lanka won the ODI Asia Cup and T20 World Cup in 2014. The team also completed a famous all-format series win in England later that year.
His second stint as chief selector lasted from 2016 to 2017, but results on the field declined during this period and many players were given chances.
In July 2024, he was named head coach of the Sri Lankan team on an interim basis, but was awarded the full-time role in October. Sanath Jayasuriya replaced Gary Kirsten as head coach last month after Sri Lanka failed to make the semi-finals in the domestic T20 World Cup earlier this year.
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