COLOMBO, Oct 10: Sri Lanka Cricket (LC) chief executive Anura Tennekoon resigned on Friday, citing personal reasons for his surprise decision.

Tennekoon, widely considered one of the greatest ever Sri Lankan batsmen, will stand down immediately after England’s tour of Sri Lanka starting next month.

“Due to personal reasons I am relinquishing my duties as chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket,” Tennekoon said in a statement. “I would like to take this opportunity to wish Sri Lanka Cricket the very best in the future.”

Tennekoon was appointed after the sacking of Dhammika Ranatunga, the brother of World Cup-winning captain Arjuna, in December 2000.

“Anura is a man of great honesty and integrity and we needed someone like that at that controversial juncture,” said Mohan de Silva, the SLC secretary.

“He always had the game at heart and he made a big contribution to the development of the game in Sri Lanka,” De Silva added.

The cricket board will start a headhunt for his replacement immediately, targeting a top business executive with cricket experience, according to De Silva.— Reuters