Interim Committees are a waste of time, says Wettimuny
There is a school of thought that Roshan Mahanama is the right man for the job
Sidath Wettimuny who led Sri Lanka Cricket’s Interim Committee just prior to the Thilanga Sumathipala administration says he will not support or be a part of an Interim Committee in the future, in spite of the ominous signs of an inevitable change in cricket governance in Lankan cricket.
The former Sri Lanka opening batsman turned respected cricket administrator told the Sunday Times, “I think Interim Committees are a waste of time. They come in only for a period of time and thereafter the wolves are at the doorstep of Lankan cricket once again.”
Wettimuny said the one year that he spent on heading the last Interim Committee was a waste of time. He said, “We came in with ideas. They were futuristic and pro-cricket. Just imagine we had the answer to the local cricket format which was formulated by a person in the calibre of Mahela Jayawardena. What happened? They just binned it. Today, the local game is in dire straits.
“Then the infrastructure that was put in place at the Max Academy – the practice wickets, the swimming pool, the dormitory and other infrastructural effects that were earmarked at other locations. They were done for the future of cricket and not for the glory of a few officials. That is why we embarked on those projects though we knew that we would not be there to see the fruits of these efforts. But, they were shelved for some flimsy reasons.”
Ruling out possibilities of coming forward to lead another interim administration, Wettimuny said, “I would like to make it clear that I do not intend to lead another cricket administration at Sri Lanka Cricket. Still I would definitely be a part of a mechanism that would change the present cricket constitution.”
In 2015, Wettimuny forwarded a draft constitution for the perusal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and even the ICC, but, seemingly the timing was wrong and the attempt was still born.
Yet, Wettimuny says the ICC in principal said that it would approve time out for such a proposal if it is done in earnest. He says, “We must think of people in the calibre of Roshan Mahanama to take up the mantle of cricket in the beleaguered cricketing nation. He knows how the ICC mechanism works as he was involved with it for a decade or more.”
At the same time it is learned that even Mahanama is of the view that Sri Lanka needs to introduce a new constitution such as the one proposed by Wettimuny and then clean up the stables.
However, it is well known that Mahanama adopts the view of “minimum political interference and governing cricket as cricket should be governed”.
In recent times former Sri Lanka Cricket captain and one time Chairman of the SLC Interim Committee Arjuna Ranatunga has been pressing President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe to change the cricket administration, which has hit its lowest ebb in Sri Lanka’s cricket history.