Sri Lanka's former captain Arjuna Ranatunga suffered a humiliating defeat on Friday, when he was crushed in elections for the top post in the island nation's cricket administration.

Ranatunga, 39, managed to get just seven votes in the battle for the presidency of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka.

Thilanga Sumathipala, 39, a former head of the cricket Board and leading Colombo businessman, won 121 votes out of a possible 144 and had his nominees elected uncontested for all other posts in the BCCSL.

Ranatunga, a member of the Sri Lankan parliament after retiring from international cricket, described his dismal performance as an "eye opener".

He had won over 100,000 votes at national elections for parliament in December 2001, but managed to get only seven at the elections.

He rejected an offer by Sumathipala to work together for the improvement of cricket in the island saying that he did not want to work with people who were tainted with allegations of corruption.

Sumathipala was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesman said the new board chairman would have a press conference later today.

Ranatunga was a non-starter from the very beginning. His own home club dumped him and decided last month to vote for Sumathipala at the elections.

Ranatunga, who captained Sri Lanka to the World Cup title in 1996, joined politics soon after retiring from cricket in 1999. He is now an opposition Member of Parliament after entering politics in the footsteps of his father who is also a Member of Parliament and a former minister.

Sumathipala said last month that he was expecting to introduce a new level of "transparency" in a bid to restore public confidence in the Board.

The BCCSL is one of the richest sporting bodies in the country but has been plagued by allegations of financial scandals.

Sumathipala said he also wanted to hire an international coach for the national cricket team which was performing below par.

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