Let the past cricketers salvage this sinking ship
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Time opportune for the past cricketing stalwarts to take the lead
Someone once pronounced that the ICC is a toothless tiger, but, we kept screaming out aloud, not once, not twice, but on several occasions, that the tiger was on the prowl. Now that the predator is in town and is in the business of devouring those who opted to challenge its authority of the stripe, there is calamity. The bad side of the story is that we are aware there would be more victims of this purge and they, too, would be felled one-by-one.
The latter part of a rather manic Monday was rudely brought to a halt, with the delivery of the ICC’s fourteen-day notice on champion Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya on corruption charges. From that point onwards, the remaining hours turned topsy turvy.
A long-distance call to my phone alerted me that more heads would roll, and for those who know instances of withholding information on match-fixing, were kindly asked to get in touch with the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) authorities, just to save their souls and for the continuation of this game that has held us spellbound for more than a century now.
The ICC’s ACU was on the prowl for some time now. Sometimes, we knew they were in the city chatting with alleged miscreants, asking for their whereabouts and hidden applications and files. As we learned, it was a thorough job and they tried their utmost to leave no stone unturned.
Now, justice will take its course and the miscreants be severely punished.
We, at this juncture, deem it fit that the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) authorities take effective action on this. In the past, besides passing an accusation like the lowly or, to be precise, the forgettable Jayananda Warnaweera episode, there were no major factors, unless someone is seeking to open old mother Hubbard’s cupboard, looking for the ’90’s skeletons, like a former national captain attempted at a public forum recently. Yet, the present purge is going to be the biggest cleanup of the Lankan cricket stables for now, and no one knows when they hope to draw the curtains down. Yet, for certain we know some insiders do have an imaginable insight to what is going on.
Yet, are we satisfied being labelled as an island nation which happened to win the Cricket World Cup by chance. But, in reality, are we a bunch of nincompoops who are only good at cheating at matches? Sadly, this is the tag cap that we would have to wear on our heads, if we do not pull back the status quo, and it should have happened yesterday.
For instance, the school cricket circuit is in disarray, the club cricket circuit is in a state of shock, the local cricket governance is in a despicable state and in the hands of a bunch Mafia chiefs who are only good at manipulating votes strewn among some crooked club chieftains. Yet, in reality, does cricket belong to them? At the same time, isn’t it that, sometimes, even unsuspecting players come into a state of mind that they act according to the script written by the people in power. Then, for a player, it is difficult to differentiate between the good, the bad and the ugly.
Recently, a former national fast bowler, dejected with what is going around, said, “Hope the whole thing goes into smithereens, so that we can start afresh”. I think that is the best piece of self assertion I’ve heard in the recent past.
We feel that, if we are to come out of this predicament, we must come out with the former players taking the lead to clean up the stables.
We have got the start. Talking to Ken de Alwis, Secretary of the Past Cricketers Association, we feel something is about to brew. De Alwis stated, “Most past cricketers have expressed their willingness to contribute towards better administration and stewardship in restoring the glory days of cricket in Sri Lanka.”
“As for the Sri Lanka Past Cricketers Association, we had always maintained it is in the best position to help the players and, in return, for the players to have the best environment to perform to the best of their ability.
“England, Australia and South Africa are countries that use Player Associations to conduct seminars, counsel players, further educating the players, create awareness in anti-doping and anti-corruption among other programmes. We request all past cricketers to be a part of this journey, for the betterment of cricket in Sri Lanka.”
That is the screen show we could project for a while. But, in reality, players are thinking and acting as a unit. They strongly feel that, now it is the responsibility of the cricketers themselves to salvage the situation.
May be, among that lot there are some who are rotten, and does not have to get submerged in their slime and order. That’s why, an army of former cricketers, who still can don their clean white garb in its truest sense, are ready to take up the fight. Helping Lanka cricket, past cricketers should not be confined to help former players pay their health bills and put on new dentures. Now, it is up to them who have made cricket great in Sri Lanka, and they prefer to keep the deck in that manner.
For instance, when they make that final selection of the Working Committee, they must keep the tainted lot out. The voice of cricket this time should be heard loud and clear, with no muffled statements.
The fault was with a previous cricketing regime which was under the impression that the Past Cricketers Association was turning out to be a trade union, just because they were negotiating for the rights of the cricketers. Just to get a better deal from the system. Well, the ICC is financed by the brand of cricket that is dished out by them. The then governing body got the wrong end of the stick and went out to ban the organisation. Now it is time for those who erred to repent. Cricket lost its voice from that moment and may be, that situation led us into more friction than the eye could see.
Now it is up to the Sports Minister to hear that voice and ascertain for himself whether it is worth listening. In their ranks, they do have former ICC senior match officials, umpires, businessmen, bankers and in plain, persons who do not have to profit by being in cricket. They do not need status laundering, because they are past cricketers of international repute; nor do they have to indulge in image laundering either, for the same simple reason.