Sri Lanka's cricket selection panel should be axed following the team's shabby showing in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), former captain Arjuna Ranatunga says.


Arjuna Ranatunga

Ranatunga also accused the government of interfering with national cricket, resulting in some senior players making political comments instead of focusing on the game.

Sri Lanka have had a poor run in recent months, suffering a Test and One-Day international series loss in the UAE against Pakistan and later losing the Test series in South Africa.

The most humiliating loss was in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa. Chasing Proteas' 302 runs for victory in the second ODI, the Sri Lankans were bowled out for just 43 runs, their lowest total in limited overs cricket. They will play the third ODI today.

Ranatunga also said that the national selectors made a blunder when they failed to pick in-form Thilan Samaraweera for the Tests in South Africa.

"Samaraweera was not picked in the original squad, but was later included as a replacement for an injured player. He went on to score centuries," he said.