Colombo, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's sports minister appointed a tobacco tsar as the interim president of the national cricket board on Thursday after firing the sport's main governing body.
A four-member interim committee took office on Thursday, a day after the board was dissolved under order of sports minister Lakshman Kiriella.
The Sri Lankan constitution gives sweeping powers to the sports minister, whose influence can extend as far as team selection.
The cricket board, the most powerful sports body in Sri Lanka, was dissolved after it lost a legal battle over plans to elect a new administration.
The interim committee is headed by Vijaya Malalasekara, a director of the Ceylon Tobacco Company, the country's main cigarette firm.
Former Sri Lanka players Sidath Wettimuny, Asantha de Mel and Michael Tissera were the other members named.
New elections are scheduled for May 6.
The annual general meeting of the cricket board, which includes elections, had been scheduled for March 31, but an opposing candidate for the presidency, Sumith Perera, obtained a court order on Tuesday to delay the elections.
Cricket board president, Thilanga Sumathipala, sought a court order on Wednesday to revoke the postponement, but was turned down. - Sapa-AP