Former India captain Rahul Dravid and ex-Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena have been appointed to the ICC Cricket Committee, adding even more cricketing experience to the list of eminent people already on the committee.

Dravid and Jayawardena have played 1,161 international matches between them from 1996 to 2015, and each has been appointed for a three-year term. They will attend their first meeting at Lord’s on 31 May and 1 June, three weeks before the ICC Annual Conference takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dravid, along with former Australia off-spinner and ex-Chief Executive of Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), Tim May, have been elected by the current Test captains as current player representatives, replacing former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who has completed his final three-year term, and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who has completed his three-year term. Jayawardena has been appointed as a past player representative and takes over from former Australia captain Mark Taylor, who has also completed his final three-year term.

Richard Kettleborough, three-time ICC Umpire of the Year, has been appointed as umpires’ representative in the committee and replaces Steve Davis, who retired last year.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumble has been re-appointed as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee for a three-year term. The former India captain was appointed as the Chair in 2012 and will now continue to head the group until 2018.

ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, who also administers the ICC Cricket Committee meeting, said: “I want to thank Mark Taylor, Kumar Sangakkara, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Steve Davis for their significant contribution to this committee.

“I welcome Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardena, Tim May and Richard Kettleborough, and I am confident that these highly credentialed individuals will carry on the good work of their predecessors to make the sport even more competitive and attractive.”

The ICC Cricket Committee is representative of all stakeholders in the modern game, including players, umpires and the media. It is empowered to make recommendations on cricket playing issues to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) and, if the matter is a policy matter, the ICC Board for approval.

(ICC)

Sri Lanka's former cricket captain Mahela Jayawardena congratulated all Sri Lankan medal winners of South Asian Games 2016.

"Big congratulations to all the medal winners at SAG . Very proud of them. #proudsrilanka" Jayawardene tweeted a short while ago.

Sri Lanka is at the second place in the medal table with 25 gold, 51 silver and 76 bronze medals by the end of events on Thursday. India leads the table with 140 gold medals and Pakistan holds the third place with seven gold medals.

Sri Lanka performed exceptionally in athletics and swimming. Matthew Abeysinghe won seven golds while Kimiko Raheem won five golds and one silver in swimming. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka produced the fastest man and woman in South Asia. Himesha Heshan established a new South Asian Games record in 100m men's event.

Meanwhile, Ishara Sandaruwan also established a South Asian Games record in men's pole vault.

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Board Directors of LiveEvents.LK, have pledged that the company will make a suitable refund to ticket holders of 'Enrique Iglesias Live in Colombo' concert.

In a media statement, the duo acknowledged that the concert fell short of expectations, pointing out that "there have clearly been glaring mistakes made, for which responsibility needs to be taken".

The organizers are in agreement, with our direction, that such shortcomings must not be tolerated. As such, we have informed them that an apology in itself is not sufficient, but further appropriate compensation has to be made in the form of a suitable refund, irrespective of the financial loss to us" Sangakkara and Jayawardene further said.

Their full statement is given below:

Dear Enrique Ticket Holders,

We wish to apologise to all of you for your negative experience at the recently concluded Enrique Concert. Although both of us were overseas fulfilling cricket commitments, we were shocked and saddened to hear of the events that transpired. It is extremely disappointing for us that this event, organised to assist the development of Sri Lanka as a tourist and entertainment hub and provide the public with exceptional entertainment of a high standard by accessing celebrated international artists, turned out in this manner. We are issuing this statement today, after understanding all circumstances and the facts.

When the idea was pitched to us and other investors by the organisers to bring an artist such as Enrique to Sri Lanka, we backed it in all good faith expecting a stellar event delivered in a professional manner to the public of Sri Lanka. Although we realised that such a venture will be an arduous one due to the well-known challenges and market restraints of organising such large-scale events in Sri Lanka, we were willing to support this endeavour considering the rich experience and the image-building potential for Sri Lanka’s tourism. As such, all required resources – both financial and otherwise – were made available to the organizers to ensure the desired outcome.

Unfortunately, the event has fallen far short of these expectations. Although we believe that the organising team worked tirelessly and with good intentions to ensure a well-run event, there have clearly been glaring mistakes made, for which responsibility needs to be taken.

Firstly, although the delay of the artist and some equipment arriving at the venue, which caused the subsequent delay in opening the gates to usher in the public, for which the artist responsibly and graciously apologized, was beyond the control of the organizers, the communication of this to the public was mishandled, thereby inconveniencing people greatly. Those that stood patiently in-line for hours were not extended the courtesy of being informed of the ground situation. This at the very beginning would have frustrated and angered all of you.

Secondly, although a professional security company was hired and protocols were put in place to ensure the safety and the comfort of all, we have been made well-aware that these measures were inadequate when faced with the challenges of controlling such a large gathering, and failed alarmingly. This obviously undermined the overall experience for those who purchased premium tickets by their respective space being encroached upon by others, and we fully understand their disappointment and anger. The premium price paid by them for their tickets needs to be respected and their comfort and viewing experience should have been safeguarded, which is under the direct purview of the organizers.

The organizers are in agreement, with our direction, that such shortcomings must not be tolerated. As such, we have informed them that an apology in itself is not sufficient, but further appropriate compensation has to be made in the form of a suitable refund, irrespective of the financial loss to us.

With regards to recent reports concerning Live Events and Municipal entertainment taxes, we categorically state the company remains transparent and ethical in all operations.

Live Events will continue to ensure full compliance with all relevant tax commitments and is providing all necessary information to the Colombo Municipal Council, in order to clarify facts and the way forward. Accountability and integrity is paramount to us and we believe it to be the same for the organizers.

Although we know an apology or refund cannot fully satiate your disappointment, we wish to reiterate that we remain fully committed to all of you and our country. As such, a full and thorough internal inquiry is ongoing into all areas of concern.

Former Sri Lanka Test captain Mahela Jayawardene will line up for the Adelaide Strikers in this summer's Big Bash League (BBL) campaign, AAP reported.

Jayawardene, 38, played 149 Tests during a glittering career, scoring 11,814 runs at an average of 49.84.

He replaces West Indian Kieron Pollard, who was ruled out of the BBL because of a knee injury.

Strikers coach Jason Gillespie was highly optimistic about Jayawardene's inclusion in the campaign and said that he would bring a wealth of experience to the side.

"Mahela is a champion of the game and is without a doubt one of the greatest batsman to play cricket in the modern era," he said in a statement.

"Having played against him myself, I'm fully aware of the type of damage he can do, so it'll be exciting to have him on our side this time."

Jayawardene, who averages 31.76 in Twenty20 internationals, is likely to be a major drawcard alongside Brad Hodge as the Strikers look to build on last year's campaign, AAP said.

The Strikers finished top of the ladder in the group stages but fell short in the semi-finals.

They will open their BBL season on December 18 against the Melbourne Stars at Adelaide Oval.

(With inputs from AAP)