THE PYJAMA REVOLUTION

When a man dies he goes either to heaven or hell. Then what happens when the career of a cricketer is dying off? He joins the Indian Cricket League. Anyway this is worrying time for the ICC and gloom is cascading down to the regional powers too. From one end the ICL is threatening to eat into their dominance and the rails that run the whole gamut of cricket appear to be shakey while in the West Indies the Stanford millions are looming like epidemics full of life threatening viruses with another planned regional tournament. Incidentally both threats are coming in the form of 20-twenty cricket.

However for the time being we shall dwell upon the ICL as it’s going take place next door and it appears that it is directly going to concern Sri Lankan cricket.

Not since the famous or infamous (as you may categories him) Australian millionaire Kerry Packer put on pyjamas to a set of bought over world cricketers in 1977 and introduced day-night cricket and brought a new meaning to World Cricket, has its base being hit by shock waves of this nature.

Packer was famously quoted from a 1976 meeting with the Australian Cricket Board, with whom he met to negotiate the rights to televise cricket. According to witnesses, he said: "There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?"

Now once again the person who was Packer’s sergeant-at-arms Mr. Anthony William Greig – better known as Tony Greig is out on the field dangling the ‘bait’ at some cricketers while some others are also globe trotting in a bid to lure in players for this latest cricket circus which is supposed to take place in India in October this year.

At that time when South African born Greig helped out Packer it cost him his captaincy in his adopted country of England, but, this time as a renowned commentator and a part time columnist maybe he has very little to lose.

However prior to Greig’s part played in Sri Lanka, the episode began in England when the organizers found a gold mine to exploit in the Lashings World Xl which comprises a host of just retired or just about to retire players representing them.

The Lashings World XI is a famous cricket team, founded by David Folb, formed in 1984. Based in Maidstone, Kent, the team has attracted famous international cricketers in the calibre of Richie Richardson, and including Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Aravinda De Silva, Tatenda Taibu, Chris Cairns, Gordon Greenidge, Jimmy Adams, Henry Olonga and Courtney Walsh.. They travel across the country playing in a variety of venues against schools and club teams to promote the game of cricket.

Full squad for 2007: Richie Richardson (WI), Henry Olonga (ZIM), Chris Harris (NZ), Russel Arnold (SL), Marvan Atapattu (SL), Nantie Hayward (SA), Hashim Amla (SA), Greg Blewett (AUS), Rashid Latif (PAK), Alvin Kallicharran (WI), Phil DeFreitas (ENG), Chris Cairns (NZ), With additional appearances from: Peter Such (ENG), Devon Malcolm (ENG), Chris Lewis (ENG), Neal Radford (ENG), Grant Flower (ZIM), Nathan Astle (NZ)

It is reported that the scouts had spoken to many of the Lashings contracted players for 2007 and managed to net in some of them. Two of those players who were spoken to were Marvan Atapattu and Russel Arnold.

Russel Arnold who retired from international cricket after the World Cup in the West Indies went ahead with his negotiations as he had relinquished affiliations with the Lankan board, but, Atapattu who is also reported to have been offered a contract of over 500,000 American dollars per year decided to skip taking part in the series against Bangladesh, and is considering very favourably taking up the offer.

Once Sri Lanka’s Test series against Bangladesh was off the ground, Greig moved over to Sri Lanka as a member of its international commentating team and soon he was on to his job of talent search. His mission was to lure in one of the biggies and he went with his ‘bait’ to champion batsman Sanath Jayasuriya to offer 560,000 US$ which the cricketer now must be considering very thoughtfully while visiting the Vatican with his family during his holiday in Rome.

Offers were also thrown at fringe players like Nuwan Zoysa, Upul Chandana and Ruchira Perera, but it is heard that only Ruchira Perera has taken up the challenge of considering the offer seriously.

However according to Media Manager of Sri Lanka Cricket Samantha Algama any cricketer who signs-up with the ICL will have to severe their connections with the local official authority for cricket.

Already India’s cricket controlling body the BCCI also has flexed its muscle against the ICL saying the players who sign will be ineligible in spite of their chief Sharad Pawar stating that he cannot see a threat from the ICL as it is only a series for the players who are in their last days of summer.

Players who are already on the bill and who are talked about are – Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shephan Flemming, Stewart Law and Johnty Rhodes, all of whom do not need much introduction.

However the danger does not lie here. This can only be the tip of the iceburg. Once the players are lured in and the circus becomes a working machine and people start watching the games on the screen not only the fringe players, but the ‘big ones’ themselves will start looking at dollars on offer seriously.

Then once the ‘bird has flown’ and the day that the authorities have a monster at hand, they will have their second pyjama revolution lost.