{"id":156666,"date":"2026-06-07T16:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=156666"},"modified":"2026-06-07T16:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:13:02","slug":"the-sri-lankan-lawyer-who-took-on-the-icc-for-the-betterment-of-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/06\/07\/the-sri-lankan-lawyer-who-took-on-the-icc-for-the-betterment-of-cricket\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sri Lankan lawyer who took on the ICC for the betterment of Cricket"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Senaka Weeraratna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>The Sri Lankan lawyer who took on the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the betterment of cricket is <strong>Senaka Weeraratna<\/strong>. Known globally as the <strong>&#8220;Father of DRS&#8221;<\/strong> (Decision Review System), Weeraratna has been engaged in a decades-long intellectual property battle with the ICC to claim rightful authorship and recognition for inventing the system. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dhanushka.mitipolaarachchi\/videos\/drs\/1886054345584318\/\">1<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/31\/the-decades-long-intellectual-property-battle-between-sri-lankan-lawyer-senaka-weeraratna-and-the-international-cricket-council-icc-over-the-authorship-of-the-decision-review-system-drs-is-widely\/\">2<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themorning.lk\/father-of-drs-story-of-sri-lankas-senaka-weeraratna\">3<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/30\/if-icc-lawyers-have-blundered-giving-sub-standard-flawed-legal-advice-on-the-origins-of-player-referral-what-are-the-remedies-available-to-improve-iccs-image\/\">4<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/category\/sports\/\">5<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Core of the Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Blueprint (1997):<\/strong> Weeraratna first conceived and publicized the framework of the &#8220;Player Referral System&#8221; in a letter to the editor of <em>The Australian<\/em> newspaper on <strong>March 25, 1997<\/strong>. He formally wrote to the ICC the same year, suggesting players use available TV technology to challenge on-field errors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Legal Analogy:<\/strong> As a qualified lawyer, Weeraratna viewed the unchallengeable power of an on-field umpire as a violation of natural justice. He designed the player referral mechanism like an <strong>appellate court system<\/strong>, where the Third Umpire functions as an appeal court judge reviewing lower court mistakes based on evidence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Four Pillars:<\/strong> His original concept included structural rules that modern cricket relies on today, such as <strong>limiting the number of unsuccessful reviews<\/strong> per innings to prevent tactical time-wasting. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/12\/26\/birth-of-drs-revolution-in-cricket\/\">1<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adaderana.lk\/news.php?nid=8654\">2<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/cricketique.live\/2017\/01\/29\/the-drs-in-cricket-and-senaka-weeratnas-early-initiatives\/\">3<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/31\/the-decades-long-intellectual-property-battle-between-sri-lankan-lawyer-senaka-weeraratna-and-the-international-cricket-council-icc-over-the-authorship-of-the-decision-review-system-drs-is-widely\/\">4<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dhanushka.mitipolaarachchi\/videos\/drs\/1886054345584318\/\">5<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Dispute with the ICC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite Weeraratna pioneering the concept a decade prior, the ICC rolled out the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) globally in <strong>November 2009<\/strong> without giving him any credit or financial compensation. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/06\/02\/icc-not-only-had-constructive-knowledge-but-also-actual-physical-knowledge-of-the-player-referral-concept-gained-during-david-richardsons-visit-to-sri-lanka-in-july-2008\/\">1<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2024\/11\/05\/drs-sri-lankas-greatest-gift-to-the-world-of-cricket\/\">2<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For years, the ICC&#8217;s legal team maintained a &#8220;No Awareness&#8221; defense, claiming the system was built independently by internal staff and technical contractors. However, Cricket historians and legal advocates have fiercely challenged this defense using two primary arguments: [, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/29\/iccs-shameful-co-habitation-with-wrongdoing-of-its-legal-team-in-relation-to-authorship-of-drs-options-available-to-restore-its-integrity\/\">2<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Doctrine of Constructive Notice:<\/strong> Because Weeraratna widely published his framework in mainstream international media starting in 1997, the ICC is legally presumed to have had access to this public knowledge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Actual Physical Notice:<\/strong> Evidence shows that in <strong>July 2008<\/strong>, a comprehensive dossier on Weeraratna\u2019s concept was physically handed over to then-ICC General Manager David Richardson during a visit to Colombo, followed by another delivery to the ICC in Dubai in <strong>June 2009<\/strong>. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/29\/drs-jonathan-hall-general-counsel-icc-like-david-becker-head-legal-icc-has-submitted-that-icc-was-totally-unaware-of-senaka-weeraratnas-prior-work-completely-overlooking-the-doctrine-o\/\">1<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/06\/05\/icc-liable-for-professional-criminal-negligence-and-fraud-for-deliberate-misrepresentation-of-fact-on-drs-authorship-claims\/\">2<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/06\/02\/icc-not-only-had-constructive-knowledge-but-also-actual-physical-knowledge-of-the-player-referral-concept-gained-during-david-richardsons-visit-to-sri-lanka-in-july-2008\/\">3<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ongoing Pursuit for Justice<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Supported by prominent local and international cricket personalities\u2014including former Sri Lankan captain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DXwJMa0CV63\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kumar Sangakkara<\/a>\u2014Weeraratna continues to press for his moral and economic copyrights. His primary objective remains institutional acknowledgment, advocating that his name be officially attached to the system by the ICC, mirroring how the names &#8220;Duckworth-Lewis&#8221; were tagged to rain-affected cricket rules. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thesidelines.lk\/posts\/did-you-know-that-a-sri-lankan-lawyer-named-senaka-weeraratne-is-claimed-to-have\/254357470096262\/\">1<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2024\/11\/05\/drs-sri-lankas-greatest-gift-to-the-world-of-cricket\/\">2<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adaderana.lk\/news.php?nid=8654\">3<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are interested in exploring this topic further, I can provide more details on the <strong>specific legal arguments<\/strong> his team is utilizing, or share how <strong>international cricket icons<\/strong> have reacted to his authorship claim. Let me know how you would like to proceed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/share.google\/aimode\/jZ597GTpcqoT7f0Hs\">https:\/\/share.google\/aimode\/jZ597GTpcqoT7f0Hs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source:&nbsp; AI Overview<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senaka Weeraratna The Sri Lankan lawyer who took on the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the betterment of cricket is Senaka Weeraratna. Known globally as the &#8220;Father of DRS&#8221; (Decision Review System), Weeraratna has been engaged in a decades-long intellectual property battle with the ICC to claim rightful authorship and recognition for inventing the system. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-senaka-weeraratna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156667,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156666\/revisions\/156667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}