5th Column

My dear Thilanga,
I thought I must write to you in desperation because you seem to be the rock that stands firm when everything about cricket in our paradise is falling apart and we have become the whipping boys of the game, where even teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh thrash us in our own backyard.

I am told that, if (or rather, when) we lose the series starting tonight against the Indians, we are in danger of not playing in the next World Cup, if the West Indies play well in their matches. Ah, what giant strides we have made since you took over Sri Lanka Cricket for the umpteenth time, Thilanga!

I am sure you will recall the days when Gamini of Mahaweli fame worked tirelessly for us to gain ‘test’ status. Those were the days when we were at the mercy of the ICC and had to beg for games with the major teams. At the time, most of our players had a day job- they were not professionals.

Even then, we gave England a run for their money in our very first test match. I am not sure whether you remember this, Thilanga, because you would have been a schoolboy in your teens playing for the Nalanda College cricket team then, but our test matches lasted the full five days, even those days.

When we next played against England at Lords, Sidath scored 190 and Duleep almost scored a century in each innings and we took the honours in the game. A year later, we won our first test match when we beat India. Even when we lost, we put up a fight and didn’t finish by tea on the third day.

Then, despite what the Aussies tried to do to Murali we won the World Cup beating them, just 15 years after becoming a test playing country. I am sure you know all this but I am just reminding you, because it appears as if memories of these events will be all that is left for us, if we carry on like this.

Even then you were hovering in the shadows of Sri Lanka Cricket. You took total control shortly after the World Cup win. You have had so many innings to play at Sri Lanka Cricket but each time, you have been stumped or run out and almost always your dismissal has been referred to the third umpire!

We should have known you were a force to reckon with when you took on Satellite’s uncle Clifford for the top job at Sri Lanka Cricket, though she was the Big Boss. That was when thugs ran riot at Sri Lanka Cricket and the AGM seemed like a gathering of underworld gangs, but you weren’t deterred.

Like with any sport, we have had our good times and our difficult days but you must agree, there hasn’t been a time when our cricket was so down in the dumps like we are now. That made me think about what we can do to correct that, to save the game that binds us together as one nation.

We seemed to have tried everything. We have changed the team many times using dozens of players, we have changed the captain, we have changed managers, we have changed batting coaches, bowling coaches and fielding coaches and we have changed even the selectors and sports ministers!

The only person who hasn’t changed in recent times is you, Thilanga. I don’t know whether you have realised this but many people are now saying that it is time to make that change to see whether it would work because whatever it is that you are doing doesn’t seem to produce the desired results.

Thilanga, we were happy to hear you say that Ravi should resign because of the controversies surrounding him. Well, he has done so now, though he made a big fuss about it. Don’t you think that if we were to apply the same standards to you, you should have resigned several times over by now?

We do know that you are a difficult man to dislodge. We have been able to change ministers of sports, prime ministers and even send Mahinda maama home but you seem to be set for a long innings this time – just like two set Indian batsmen hammering our hapless bowlers for days on end.

Who can forget the fact that at the last presidential election you supported Mahinda maama against Maithri? Yet, after Maithri won that election and you then lost at the general election, Maithri still nominated you to Parliament from the National List. How on earth did you manage that stunt?

It is also interesting that although you beat Arjuna for the top job at Sri Lanka Cricket, he polled almost eight times as many votes as you did at the last general election, got elected to Parliament and is a minister while you had to sneak in through the back door, thanks to Maithri’s generosity.

We know all is not well with Sri Lanka Cricket- and that is not just about the players’ performances. If this goes on, Gamini will be remembered for resurrecting our cricket, Arjuna as the chap who put it on the map and you as the one who presided over its demise. Think about it, will you, Thilanga?

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: I heard you say that Sri Lanka will put up a great performance against India in the one-dayers. I suppose the chances of that happening are as great as Wijeyadasa resigning. I’m willing to bet on it, but then, you are not a betting man – or are you, Thilanga?