Sri Lankan cricket board got a fresh lease of life on Sunday as it announced it had secured the release of $11.5 million withheld by the International Cricket Council for eight months due to a dispute over its administration.

The ICC had frozen the funds due to Sri Lanka last year after the country’s government appointed an unelected official to run the board.

Sri Lanka Cricket has long battled in-fighting and dispute over leadership. Elections were finally held last month where Shammi Silva was elected as president.

“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that following high level discussions with the ICC, the new Executive Committee of the SLC has successfully secured its due portion of finances from the ICC,” Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

Former SLC head Thilanga Sumathipala was involved in talks with the ICC last week, it added.

It is great news for Sri Lanka off the field after their players created history on the field with their historic Test series win in South Africa.

This comes after Sri Lankan cricket was hit by a major scandal last month when batting great Sanath Jayasuriya was banned from all cricket for two years after admitting to two breaches of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.