Always there is the other side of the coin. There is another school of thought in any subject and cricket is no different. Yet, there is one common ground, both parties talk of the same common goal. They both are concerned and they both talk about sustaining local cricket and making it attuned to cater to the needs of the demand of international cricket.
Last week this column featured former Sri Lanka opening batsman who set ablaze the hallowed shrine of cricket – ‘Lords’ with his 190+ when Sri Lanka was just a toddler in the Test arena – Sidath Wettimuny. Expressing concerns about the future of the game, he promoted the idea of nurturing the Provincial Cricket system.
He was of the view that the club cricket system should be preserved, but the authorities must bring in the provincial system to the fore so that it could sandwich the gap between the international call and what the club cricket now has to offer.
Dwelling upon Wettimuny’s ideas on local cricket was none other than Chaminda Vaas – undoubtedly a man who also knows what international cricket is and what Sri Lanka needs to do to take its cricket to the next phase of the future.
Vaas is a present day cricketer and even at the age of 37 is actively involved with the ongoing club cricket tournament as a fast bowler and a middle order batsman. Besides, Vaas along with Muttiah Muralitharan infused fight into Sri Lanka cricket and changed its stance forever.
Unlike Wettimuny who propagated the Provincial ideology, Vaas batted for the club system. He was vehement that the status quo should not be changed, yet there should be changes effected in the system.
The former Sri Lanka opening bowler said, “To bridge the gap at the top, initially we will have to look where the Lankan cricket starts. In Sri Lanka the nursery is school cricket. First we have to look into what ails this important aspect of the game and remedy that.”
Vaas said that there are many faults in the school cricket system in this country. The unnecessary involvement of parents, unscrupulous coaches and even some umpires has changed the game’s stance.
He then added that in the past there were good coaches who knew what they were doing. So at that time there were good products coming out of the schools system on a regular basis. Every season produced at least one schoolboy cricketer who would do well once he leaves school. Now it does happen very infrequently.
“Another vital point is that at present most of the school cricketers do not take the game seriously. They do not pay much attention to their fitness levels. As a result when they enter the next phase in cricket – club cricket – they cannot sustain themselves. As a result they get injured.
Vaas added “This is where the Cricket Board should come in. They must devise a structure so that they could get involved with the school system in a meaningful manner and help it to come out of its present predicament. They must try to provide good coaches and equipment to schools in general as much as possible”.
Vaas who never missed a series owing to injury in his one-and-half-decade international career said that he began his fitness regime at the age of fifteen while turning out for his alma mater St. Joseph’s and added that up to now he follows that same regime and said, “Even now I am hold my own against any of these youngsters”.
When it came to club cricket Vaas said that SLC should also streamline the levels of club cricket and concentrate in having a very competitive tournament at the top. He said, “We can have eight teams playing in tier ‘A’ and eight teams paying in tier ‘B’ with a relegation and promotion system of the bottom two and the top two of the respective tournaments. However to sustain the levels of cricket, the SLC must provide the necessary assistance. The clubs also can get their own respective sponsors, but, SLC also should give maximum assistance”
When asked in comparison to Australia’s state cricket, India’s Ranji Trophy Cricket, County cricket in England or most of the other top level domestic cricket tournaments conducted in the top cricket playing nations our club cricket is at a lower standard and how should the problem be addressed? Vaas said: “To maintain the standards the cricket board should intervene. It should provide the clubs with supporting staff like physios, trainers etc. I do not think at present most of the clubs have their own physio, trainers or masseurs. So when a player is injured the player has to go to Khettarama for treatment. So it is up to the authorities to provide these facilities to the clubs.
“My idea is that at Club level we must conduct a tournament each in 4-day cricket, Limited overs and T-20 with a period of six months and that amount of cricket should be sufficient for the Lankan cricketers.
“Adding a provincial tournament over this is putting another burden on the cricketers and then that becomes too much and then chances of the cricketers getting injured becomes more pronounced”.
Then we asked to accommodate the cricketers from outstations and the growing needs of the cricketers from outside Colombo while the club cricket tournament is mainly based in Colombo Vaas explained, “In the past we had clubs from Galle, Ambalangoda, Kandy and Kurunegala how they find employment in Colombo. So they can not practice in Kandy and work in Colombo. The result is player migration.”
The Sunday Musings then asked about the 90 contracted cricketers to the SLC and why are they flocking in Colombo. The answer was that the SLC must mediate and revive good cricket at those clubs in the outstations. They must get the contracted players to go and play for the clubs in their respective areas and also encourage cricketers coming out from those bases also to stick on and play for the clubs in their respective bases. “But it is up to the SLC to revive those clubs and provide them with the facilities so that those clubs will be competitive enough and also could provide with the facilities for cricketers to play good cricket.
“People like Jeevantha Kulatunga, Rangana Herat have come from Kurunegala. From Kandy there is Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Kapugedera and Muttiah Muralitharan and from the Galle area we have so many cricketers who have played at the highest level. But, all those cricketers have come to Colombo to play their cricket”.
Vaas went one step further and said, “If the authorities find that there is good cricket played at any other base other than the mentioned they could help the people of the area to establish cricket hubs and encourage the cricketers of those areas take to the game.
“The problem here is to play the Provincial tournament the Club Cricket tournament has to be played. Because they pick the cricketers for the Provincial tournament from the Club tournament. However when all that cricket comes into the calendar it becomes too much cricket for the players. Last year we played a four day provincial tournament and most of the players took part because they had to. There was no interest at all. There is no point playing like that. If it is going to be the number one tournament it should be played at that level and played at one hundred per cent competitive level. I think club cricket has done enough to provide good cricketers. What we have to do is to sustain the existing system in a proper manner”. |
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