SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS
(APRIL 2026
Compiled by Victor Melder
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed Ryan van Niekerk as the National Bowling Coach and Jordan Gregory as the National Fielding and Spin Bowling Coach. Ryan van Niekerk, who previously served as the bowling coach and interim head coach of the Netherlands national team from 2023 to 2026, will oversee fast bowling across all national teams, including the national men’s side. Prior to his interim head coach role, he worked as the assistant coach and bowling coach of the Netherlands men’s team. During his tenure, he contributed to the team’s participation in major international tournaments such as the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Meanwhile, Jordan Gregory has been appointed as the National Fielding and Spin Bowling Coach. He previously worked as a fielding consultant for Netherlands Cricket and has contributed to several bilateral and multinational tournaments, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2023. In his new role, Gregory will be responsible for overseeing fielding and spin bowling across all national teams at the High Performance Center, including the national men’s team. Both appointments are for a two-year tenure, commencing on 15 April 2026. (Daily Mirror, 3.4.2026)
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) informed the Colombo District Court that it will file objections to the petition submitted by cricketer Nuwan Thushara, seeking an interim injunction compelling the authorities to issue him a “No Objection Certificate” to enable his participation in the 2026 Indian Premier League and other international premier league tournaments. The Colombo District Court fixed the matter for April 23 for the filing of objections.(Daily Mirror, 9.4.2026)
Anti-corruption crusaders and die-hard cricket followers in the island could breathe a sigh of relief as President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has at last bowed down to ground realities and ordered Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) merry-go-round dictator Shammi Silva to clear out. Silva, the Daily Mirror exclusively learns, will be replaced by former MP Eran Wickramaratne, a former Royal College cricketer, in an Interim Committee. In a stern measure, President Dissanayake, it is learnt, has informed Silva to resign at his earliest keeping in line with mounting pressure pouring in from several quarters, including players, who are calling for the cricket chief’s resignation. Silva basked in the glory of alleged vote-buying and political patronage to remain in what had come to be known as the best place outside the office of the Head of State for nearly eight years as he muzzled his opponents out of the scene obsessed with absolute power and a swashbuckling nature. It is also learnt that a senior Cabinet Minister had conveyed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to allow for a change in the corruption-ridden SLC administration emphasising that the process was an internal matter to which the sport’s global keeper had consented. Silva made numerous unguarded utterances at press conferences contending that funding by the ICC, team participation money at World Cups and whopping corporate sponsorships brought in money to SLC that he claimed was a private entity much to the annoyance of critics who called for a clean-up of a public institution in 2023. Since then Silva and his Committee had been living on borrowed time and even survived one of the biggest uproars in Parliament where former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe famously challenged the then President Ranil Wickremesinghe to choose between him and a tainted Silva. Silva survived and Ranasinghe became the fall guy. As many as four investigative or Probe Reports compiled by retired Supreme Court judges and the Auditor General called for an overhaul at SLC that was followed by a Cabinet sub-committee dossier compiled by ex-Justice Minister Ali Sabry. Financial mismanagement, nepotism, dictatorship and power games at SLC was even noted by incumbent President Dissanayake whom many accused of hypocritically turning a blind-eye contrary to his election pledge for a clean-up of public institutions. Questions are now likely to be asked on what happens to Silva over accountability at SLC after losing his immunity. He has asked President Dissanayake for a week more before facing the outside world. (Daily Mirror, 24.4.2026)
Former Member of Parliament Eran Wickramaratne has been appointed as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee, following a sweeping administrative overhaul at Maitland Place. The Ministry of Sports has appointed a nine-member committee comprising former national cricketers and professionals to assist Wickramaratne in managing the affairs of the board. The members include former national captains Roshan Mahanama and Kumar Sangakkara, along with Sidath Wettimuny. Other members of the committee are Thushira Radella, Avanti Colombage, Prakash Schaffter, and Upul Kumarapperuma. The appointments follow the resignation of SLC President Shammi Silva and the entire Executive Committee.(Daily Mirror, 30.4.2026)
