Aim at the stars and end up in the moon
View(s):Just a few days ago, the cricket buzz in this part of the world was a reported attempt by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Thilanga Sumathipala to move to the hot seat at the International Cricket Council (ICC) after its Chairman Shashank Manohar decided to step down for personal reasons. But, sanity prevailed, and the ICC hierarchy managed to persuade Manohar to stay put until some important legislation is passed in June — and that saved the day for Sri Lanka’s cricket.
How gallant he looked when he fought the entire hierarchy single-handed and lost. In this day and age, where everything in Sri Lanka’s cricket is Sumathipala, what chaos such a move would have created? Lankan cricket would have been running its vehicle without its engine. Had that happened, just imagine what would have been the state of affairs in our own backyard in cricket? How many shoes polished and suits pressed and kept, just in case.
Yet, the downside of things is that Bangladesh thrashed the Lankans by a huge margin of 90 runs in Dambulla, and in the followup game at the same venue, Sumathipala’s brainchild, it rained. Yet, there was some disturbing news that followed the washout. My colleague and Lankadeepa Journalist Yohan Basura reported that if the rain had ceased after a while, there still would have been problems. The ground was not adequately covered, with huge gaps in between. Fortunately, it rained the whole evening and play was not possible at all in the post-break session.
Well, that’s bad. Sumathipala has seen to it that such events are handled by the respective local associations, like the district or the provincial bodies. They have the common touch. They are the people of the area, and are aware of what is happening. So, occurrences of this nature should not be on the agenda. Even prior to this, at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, the area designated for the players’ press conference was disgrace. For the first time, we saw a table covered with a dirty, red satin cloth, and the stage area was also a sorry sight to be called Lankan. Then, someone said, since the management outsourced and handed it over to these local people, standards have dropped.
This is the irony of this episode. At SLC, it looks as if there are a whole lot of people who are scaling down. Or, is it really so? For instance, what can the poor SLC president do, if his closest allies are alleged to be involved in a ground breaking match-fixing issue in the club scene? Thank all the deities that the said teams are not barred from taking part in cricket. We hear the hearing sessions are going pell-mell, but its dragging. Good! Now, in a few days, the season is over and the Provincial four-day tournament is still not in sight. Then, once the season is over, you can ban them from taking part in any form of cricket for about three months. Yes, in that manner, we could punish the culprits. If not, they may think that Sumathipala is favouring his “yes” men.
Then, just see the way they drove everyone around the bush, when someone brought the motion to stop the Club Cricket tournament. What happened? The District friends came to their rescue. Though, under different names, all the clubs continued with their tournament but, wearing different T-Shirts. What a genius!
Then, at the same time, we hear there are moves to patch the differences between warring Jayantha Dharmadasa and Sumathipala. “What for”? I ask. Isn’t he, like before, even when he was the President, only interested in International affairs? When the Sumathipala administration was formed, they began with a five-pillar structure, and the International Pillar was handed over to none other than Jayantha Dharmadasa. Then, what’s all this fuss about. Every marriage has its own ups and downs. What they should be doing is sing a song of sixpence and stay on board.
Then, there is this complaint about the misuse of several vehicles. I think that is in order. All these elected officials are spending their time, energy and money to serve the noble game of cricket. So, what harm in them using some official vehicles? These vehicles are not used to transport their children to school or, their wives for shopping! These vehicles are being used for the betterment of the game in Sri Lanka. Just imagine, if they had to travel to Dambulla, Galle and all the other places, spending on fuel for their own vehicles. I think it would have been a huge travesty of justice. I am very happy. No one has even bothered to answer these silly allegations.
Then, the back-trackers are trying to make small talk about the profit balance they made public. Yes, I am fully with the cutting down of monies to the Sri Lanka cricketers, even though they are the guys who bring home the bacon. They are losing far too many matches for the well-being of our national cricket as a whole. So, it is okay, if a big chunk of that money is retained and shown as profits for the year, even if it is not properly audited. Anyhow, it is the SLC’s money, and it has all the right to show it as its profit. Frankly, I do not think there is anything wrong there either.
It was not so long ago, a very close Sumathipala confidant, who is also a close friend of mine, once confided in me “I will not be surprised if Thilanga Sumathipala ends up as the ICC President soon. At the moment he is in Logistics. It is a very powerful seat. I think he is moving in the right direction.” I still have my apprehensions.
Once again, my contention is, what would happen in a scenario of this scale. If Sumathipala moves to the ICC, he would have to relinquish his position at SLC. Then SLC would become a rudderless ship. What would happen to the five pillars? The consequences? We just cannot fathom!!!
PS: This is how you could accomplish the impossible. You can do it the SLC way. Now the SLC has sent a team for the ACC Emerging teams cup. But, in Sri Lanka we have taken that to a different high. Right now there are at least four players who are over 23 when the team is called the under 23 team. The headline of the SLC handout read. “Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup-Group A India Under-23s v Sri Lanka Under-23s.” India stuck by the stipulations. Yet, India under 23 beat the Sri Lanka over 23.
What is the ruse? The big boys of the ACC, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh agreed to send in under 23 squads and also named them as under 23 team. Yet, the other emerging teams like Afghanistan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Nepal were given the liberty to choose their teams irrespective of their ages.
Why worry? SLC has only bent the rule.