Minister to fire cricket selectors
View(s):Player monopoly to end, three teams for three segments among the changes in the offing.
By S.R. Pathiravithana
An angry Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage lashed out at the declining cricket standards in the country, saying that the team has now become the monopoly of a few players who think that they are indispensable.
“It is high time that things were put into their perspective,” the Minister said.
The Lankan lot are not a very happy combination Down Under
He said he had a serious dialogue with the Lankan cricket authorities about the current status of the game and they have arrived at some solutions which would be put into effect before February 1 this year.
He said even the present Cricket Selection Committee should be held responsible for this situation and a three member committee was not sufficient to deal with the responsibility.
He said that before February 1, he is hoping to appoint a new selection committee which would have workable numbers.
Asked whether the selection committee would have some of the faces which have occupied the chairs for over ten years in-a-row the minister’s answer was an affirmative ‘NO’.
Under the prevailing Sports Law it is the minister who has the prerogative to hire and fire the cricket selectors. Generally the Minister requests a list of preferences from Sri Lanka cricket and appoints whoever he deems fit.
He also added that he felt that like other cricket playing nations Sri Lanka also should have different teams representing the country in the three segments of the game.
 Asantha De Mel |
 Don Anurasiri |
 Hemantha Wickremaratne |
“What has happened now is some players try to hug all three sections of the game and they cannot cope with the resulting pressure. My personal view is that we should have three deferent teams in our international circuit and there also should be three captains leading the three segments. If not at least we must have two captains and different sets ups for the longer duration of the game and the shorter ones”.However the minister said it was too early to divulge all the decisions that had been taken on the changes, but vowed that they would be implemented before February 1.
At present the three National cricket Selectors are Asantha de Mel (Chairman), Don Anurasiri and Hemantha Wickramaratne. Out of the three members Don Anurasiri has been in almost all cricket committees for the past eleven years.
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