THE BIG PICTURE
THE LAST STRAW
Why Sri Lanka’s cricketing fortunes risk turning into a misfortune
It wasn’t long ago that Sri Lanka’s sports minister reached out to the ‘famous five’ – five former greats of the gentlemen’s game who are also among the most respected ex-cricketers from the modern era – to form an ‘advisory panel’ that would turn our cricketing fortunes around ahead of next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup.
It is true that in the longer version of the game at least, the Sri Lankans have stood their ground amid the turmoil at headquarters although the nation’s fanatical fans would hope that their heroes would slowly but surely move up from their sixth place in the Test rankings in due course.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka continues to languish in the bottom half of the rankings in the 50-over game and it is no different in the T20 format – despite the fact that we have tasted success by winning the coveted World Cup in both versions in 1996 and 2014 respectively.
Sadly, the faux pas that pervade Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) are seemingly rubbing off on our hitherto well-behaved cricketers, what with an ICC suspension of the Test team’s skipper for tampering with the ball in the Caribbean and two internal or local bans on the younger brigade for misconduct in recent times.
Add to this the spate of injuries that has sidelined a number of our front line batsmen and bowlers, and one wonders whether there’s an ‘administration’ in place to assist the national squad when it’s most needed.
Back to the famous five and their reaction to the minister’s invitation…
Well, it was flatly rejected not because Aravinda de Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara don’t have the time to come to the party in the national interest but their unanimous belief that the present system cannot be trusted.
“If anyone wants to buy time, please don’t use us,” is how Jayawardene reacted while Mahanama was blunt when he reportedly lamented: “I detest political interference, dishonesty and lack of transparency at any level; and until someone makes a positive effort to eliminate them, I consider it prudent to stick to my principles…”
Muralitharan on the other hand, stood firm by quipping that “it is sad that [past] national cricketers are not consulted until things hit rock bottom!”
Meanwhile, Sangakkara explained that “many cricketers and administrators with genuine intentions will not come forward” because they feel they’ve been “used as pawns to buy time for political manoeuvring.”
Indeed, the political establishment in this country is guilty of running one of its most revered national brands into the ground – as it has done to just about everything else of value to the people of the land. Our most valuable assets have been systematically ripped apart for perhaps the better part of Sri Lanka’s post-independence years.
Sangakkara’s call to the nation’s two highest ranking politicians – albeit indirectly through the minister in charge – it would seem, has fallen on deaf ears: “If you Sir, are able to establish genuine bona fides, and harness the support and commitment of the President, Primer Minister and all other relevant public officials to make the revisions, changes and amendments to the constitution of Sri Lanka Cricket, and to the Sports Law, I am sure that you will receive the full cooperation of myself, the large cricketing fraternity and the public.”
Given the status quo and extreme procrastination that we see with many other issues of national importance, this may sound like a pipe dream; but that it is a desperate last call to save a game that we Sri Lankans live for is not in question.
Make no mistake, this is the last straw.
Getting knocked out of the Asia Cup by Afghanistan was the last straw. And I don’t blame the players because I really do think they are talented. The blame must start at the headquarters of cricket in our country because that ship is sinking fast or has it sunk already? By the time the politicians and administrators wake up from their deep sleep, the World Cup will be over and I fear that here too we will exit early.
There’s another thing that is puzzling me. Seeing how badly the Sri Lankans fielded in the Asia Cup and other basics like poor running between the wickets, I wonder what the coaching staff are doing. As one commentator said, our batsmen don’t even know how to back up when they are at the other end of the wicket. Even schoolboys know what to do.
I also agree that the some of the selections are questionable so the selectors must also think about what is going wrong.
It is a sad state of affairs for the game we all love. I feel sorry for Angelo Mathews, he is not getting any help from anyone. I hope he doesn’t resign soon because that will make matters even worse.
I agree. Politics is ruining even cricket. The selectors need to look at themselves rather than others and blaming the players!
Why did it take so long for Lasith Malinga to be given another chance? Why is Suranga Lakmal playing when there are so many young quicks? Why aren’t young prospects like Sadeera Samarawickrama in the team for the Asia Cup? Is politics seeping into the selection process as well? And see what Sanga and other greats say!
The past cricketers quoted in this article are heroes. The minister should listen to what they say rather than try to put things off because the ICC will not tolerate this nonsense from a small country like Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan cricket seems to redefine what constitutes hitting “rock bottom” with each passing month and year. The chasm between Sri Lankan cricketers and the rest – mainly cricketers of India, Australia, England and South Africa – is widening more than the Palk Strait. While other cricketing nations are deep diving into data, analytics and various other performance metrics, we are not even engaging in simple analytics – if not, how can one simply rationalise the selection blunders we are currently going through? It has been the “last straw” for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the past number of years; it seems to be suffering from the ‘Groundhog Day Effect.’
Far too many selection blunders as you say… see the team for the Asia Cup.