{"id":156814,"date":"2026-06-15T16:17:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=156814"},"modified":"2026-06-15T16:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:17:06","slug":"modern-day-ehelapolas-now-run-sri-lanka-cricket-slc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/06\/15\/modern-day-ehelapolas-now-run-sri-lanka-cricket-slc\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Day Ehelapolas now run Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senaka Weeraratna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Modern day Ehelapolas are not in governance like in the days of the Kandyan Kingdom but in Cricket. The recruitment of a White South African legal malpractitioner David Becker (born and bred in the ‘Apartheid’ er) who blocked Sri Lanka from gaining due credit from the ICC for innovation of Player – Referral (DRS) is the greatest betrayal in the Cricket History of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The so-called Cricket Transformation Committee are the modern day traitors of Sri Lanka. Instead of backing their own man who game changed international Cricket ( and several other sports) with the revolutionary concept of Player – Referral ( DRS),  and brought world wide recognition to Sri Lanka, the Chairman of the Committee and his Committee have chosen to pay the very lawyer who authored the legal briefs against their own countryman. [1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>]  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both David Richardson ( Mastermind of the ICC scam ) and David Becker followed by Jonathan Hall ( General Counsel of ICC) have a lot to answer for  their fraud, misrepresentation, and professional malpractice that has impacted on Sri Lanka, a near bankrupt country, in multiple ways. The fact that they can walk laughingly to the Bank with the money that has been generated by illegal use of DRS is not only a display of their cunning but the lack of due diligence on the part of Sri Lanka’s Cricket Administrators, then and now.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DNA of Ehelapola appear to run in the veins of some of our Cricket Administrators. By this very insensitive act without vetting the background of the South Africans such as David Becker and David Richardson who are co – religionists, the Chairman of the Committee (a man with a Chequered past in evangelical work) has shown that he has scant regard for the high end achievements of people of his own country that unfortunately belong to another faith. I hope that this interpretation of religious prejudice is wrong. But the primary blame for such thoughts to arise in others must be borne solely by Mr. Eran Wickremaratne, the Chairman of the Committee who has yet to show the spirit of cricket, fairplay and justice in the handling of the DRS issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eran Wickremaratne calls himself an Evangelist. Such a man can never be neutral or trustworthy.  A mindset focused solely on religious conversion can view other traditions as flawed. His choice of David Becker, a South African lawyer with a track record of misrepresentation and professional negligence and depriving Sri Lanka of due rewards, says it all. DRS does not interest Eran Wickremaratne for reasons best known to him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is duty bound however to ensure that Justice is done to the claimant of the invention ‘ Player – Referral’ – A Sri Lankan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local advocates frequently invoke the historical imagery of Ehelapola<\/em>\u2014a reference to Ehelapola Nilame, a prominent historical figure associated with internal betrayal in the Kandyan Kingdom\u2014to describe local officials whom they believe failed to fiercely defend Sri Lankan intellectual property<\/a>. Critics argue that both Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)<\/a> and successive sports ministries have not adequately lobbied the ICC to secure formal national accolades or potential financial royalties for Weeraratna’s foundational blueprint. [1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 4<\/a>, 5<\/a>, 6<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term “Modern Day Ehelapolas”<\/strong> in the context of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is a scathing historical metaphor used by local fans, journalists, and politicians to describe cricket administrators, officials, and occasionally players accused of institutional betrayal, corruption, and selling out the national game for personal gain.<\/strong> [1<\/a>, 2<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moniker draws directly from Ehelepola Nilame<\/strong>, the infamous 19th-century Kandyan courtier who allied with the British colonial forces to overthrow King Sri Wikrama Rajasinha, inadvertently leading to the downfall of the last independent Sri Lankan kingdom. In contemporary cricket discourse, calling someone an “Ehelapola” means accusing them of stabbing the nation\u2019s beloved sport in the back for financial or political kickbacks. [1<\/a>, 2<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Metaphor is Used in SLC<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n