Returning to original sin: Whither Lanka’s Test Cricket?
View(s):The good book says the first reference to cricket played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. Then later it developed to become a game that was played between parishes in English villages.
So the game we revere so much and have become an inherent part of us began with sacrilege. So the game has never been able to move out of that original sin, even though it has grown to be a global pastime and is being run by a world body that even has its own anti-corruption unit.
Test cricket is becoming a rare commodity for the Lankans – File pic
No sooner the cricket was brought into Sri Lanka by the English colonialists in the early 1800s than it took root. The game captured the imagination of even the locals who had not experienced soothing in the same ilk.
Elle, in all probabilities, should be a derivation from cricket though I cannot vouch for it. Elle has a lot of similarities with ‘rounders’ and ‘baseball’ and is very un-Lankan where a sport is concerned. Anyway this is not a narration on Elle at all.
Cricket developed in Sri Lanka and by the 20th century it had churned into a sport where it had even floated traditional school matches like the Royal-Thomian. The first school match in Sri Lanka is reported to have been played in 1864 between Small Pass CC and St. Thomas’ College, then situated at Mutwal.
However, with such a rich heritage, the global keepers of the game held Sri Lanka at bay without making it a full member of the circuit till 1980. In 1982, Sri Lanka played its first Test against England at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium. Though Sri Lanka lost that game, they played very mature cricket in their first time out and only the lack of exposure in five-day cricket that brought them the defeat. However, by then Sri Lanka as an affiliated member had beaten Australia, India and the West Indies in one-day games — besides their impressive performances in the first two World Cup Tournaments in 1975 and 1979.
Barely three-years after playing their first Test, the Lankans recorded their first Test win against India at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium and also beat Pakistan in a Test for the first time at the CCC Grounds in 1986.
With the country enveloped in a civil war during that period, international cricket was few and far-between and a Test win was almost rare. So, two Test wins in two years were a feat to celebrate.
In 1995, Sri Lanka won their first overseas Test in New Zealand and under Arjuna Ranatunga the cricket upsurge hit the crescendo with the World Cup win in 1996.
By this time the Murali-Vaas era also arrived and the World of Cricket even grudgingly accepted Sri Lanka as an equal partner in every sense.
Today the Lankan cricket is supposedly a long way as against the scenarios in the 80s and the 90s. Now the cricketers are true professionals and even the cricket administration looks quite professional and the officials sometimes act as if they are that. Yet ironically, the Lankan cricketers and officials seem to have mixed up their priorities.
At present the yardstick is the bottom-line. There was enough flowery language used by the cricketers in their urge to attend the IPL 
fixtures this year. The Tamil Nadu administration were against the Lankans taking part in any sport in India and the Lankan cricketers did show their resolve when they took up the challenge and crossed the Palk Straight to honour their contracts with the IPL masters. Even at this point we are with them because we, too, believe that at no point should politics get mingled with any form of sport — even when it comes to the election of a head to a sports body.
Yet, lately what have we done to ourselves. For pure economic reasons Sri Lanka is gradually running away from the longer version of the game and the players who are neck-deep in money-making also toe the line without a whimper.
Even this column was against Arjuna Ranatunga when he tried to force an English tour down the throats of the Lankans cricketers in 2008. But, in hindsight, we feel that the tour should have gone on; the entire approach towards that exercise should have been different. The ultimate result of that confrontation was the players taking control of the game somewhat and giving the crooked administrators the ideal tool to misconstrue the whole concept of quality cricket.
In 2011, England arrived in the island to play two Test matches following that year’s IPL tournament in India, but, the dark truth was that Sri Lanka had compromised one-test match to take part in the money-earning Asia Cup that year. This means when England reciprocates the tour prior to 2020 they too can cut down on a Test match if they wish to.
Then to make the West Indian players available for the IPL 2013, Sri Lanka gave up two Test matches when the country goes there in May. India is happy — they got the West Indian players and the Sri Lankan players for the IPL. As compensation, the West Indies will get a triangular series with India. Sri Lanka in the rush is still looking out for a window in FTP to play the postponed two Test matches.
Following the West Indies engagement, Sri Lanka also have done away with three home tests against South Africa and will go ahead with the shorter version of the games. The test matches have been postponed for 2015. Why? Sri Lanka has to stage the SLPL and a window for that has to be opened.
Now the latest is that Sri Lankans have done away with their biggest four-day tournament — the Provincial Tournament — and instead have introduced some spurious limited overs tournament. I wonder if India would compromise their Ranji trophy tournament or Australia their Sheffield Shield, or England its county cricket for that matter.
Even the man who shoots his opponent in the middle of the day in front of a large gathering can come up with excuse. Sri Lanka Cricket also has come up with one for this act too.
The Lankan ‘A’ team cricketers who are the next in line for us are to embark on a tour of the West Indies in June. Now they are in preparation.
During that tour they are scheduled to play two four-day unofficial Tests and three ODIs and two T-20s. Yet, even for that, our administration has kept no window opened for to prepare for the longer version of the game. They will have only the shortcakes.
This means Sri Lankan ‘A’ team cricketers will tour West Indies with match practice in the longer version of the game.
This alone shows how callous and offhanded our administrators are about the future of our Test cricket.
The reason it is only the shortcakes that bring them the revenue and even the cricketers get more money for playing less cricket.
Like the original cricket sin, we are going to pay for our follies. Just think of the just concluded Bangladesh series. Even while playing at home the Lankans had to pull out all their resources to beat Bangladesh 1-0 in the Test series. But, now the Zimbabwe cricketers have done short work of the Bangladeshis. Remember come October we too will have to face the truth in Zimbabwe. If Sri Lanka lose over there, everyone who is responsible for the present day’s game — players and administrators — should be held responsible.
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