Singapore’s 0812 and Sri Lanka’s 2019
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Along the way, yes, Sri Lanka produced the Duncan White, Susanthika Jayasinghe, M.J.M. Lafir, Nandasena Perera – in different sports, but, an accented programme and a profile was never in existence. Yet, in Singapore, the profile was different.
Project 0812 is the inside story of Singapore’s journey to Olympic glory and it chronicles the dramatic untold story of this struggle, celebrating both the strength of the human spirit and also the closed-door intrigues behind the success of the table tennis team. For the first time, it reveals the tensions which hobbled the team in the lead-up to Beijing and the colourful aftermath when Singapore won a historic silver medal.
In the hands of Singapore Literature Prize-winning author Peh Shing Huei, the behind-the-scenes stories came alive, offering insights into a global quest which stretched from Portugal to Japan and from Brazil to China. Project 0812 is an absorbing and fascinating chronicle of Singapore’s unprecedented journey to Olympic glory, from Beijing to London to Rio de Janeiro.
Conceived in 2006, the idea of Project 0812 started as an informal chit-chat but later caught on and eventually became a tripartite effort between the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC), the then-Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the then-Singapore Sports Council.
This means in Singapore there are people who can translate their love to their motherland and sports with timely action.
Why the Sunday Musings brought this up as a sequel is because it is another narration of how a tiny nation chalked up its resources and launched a programme of sustainable excellence. We feel once a system is put in place, sustenance comes invariably.
Coming back to our own cricketing land, now we are wondering where we have gone wrong after the boost the game received with the winning of the ICC World Cup. Yes, the Lankans gathered momentum since we got Test status like my colleague Mahinda Wijesingha explained in another column, but, of late, the momentum has just gone out of the window.
Once again Lankan cricket is at crossroads and rightly so the new Sports Minister, Harin Fernando, seems to be mindful of that fact and is talking to the right people – people who have cricket in their hearts and not in their pockets. Persons in the calibre of Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettimuny think, breathe and live cricket, but are detached at a certain point. They will not go to the extent of joining a club and run for presidency just to seek a chair in the cricket executive committee. Yet, they will serve the sports, may be more than the ‘chair’ people if they are given the opportunity in the right manner. At the same time, persons of this calibre have the wherewithal to provide the necessary awning so that the others who dwell under, get a sense of tranquility and self assurance to perform without hindrance.
Right now there is a certain uncertainty in the cricket community. No one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow? Could Dinesh Chandimal continue as captain? How long could Coach Chandika Hathurusingha remain as head coach? Would there be an interim committee and who would head it? Would there be elections for the cricket’s governing body? If so who is going to head it? Would it be the Thilanga Sumathipala-led Mohan de Silva faction or the Jayantha Dharmadasa/S. Mathivanan-led Ranatunga faction?
Meanwhile, I just happen to run in to a former national cricketer who played the game with more distinction than most of the others and who is very much a part of the machinery, but, generally believes in keeping his inner feelings confined. So he opted to remain anonymous.
I broke the ice by asking, “What’s happening to Sri Lanka cricket?” There was no hesitation; the answer was quick. He said, “I wonder if we are on the right path? It all started with Chandika Hathurusingha being recruited as head coach and some went to the extent of calling him the best coach in the world. But, wheels of that wagon began to drop off one by one when Sri Lanka began to lose matches.
“What was Hathurusingha’s reaction? He began to find fault with everyone else but himself! The result: Sri Lanka now has a new batting coach and a new fielding coach, yet, the performances are the same. I feel where we have gone wrong is that we have lost direction. I believe that Sri Lanka cricket has sufficient talent, but, there is a question of how we are utilising it. At the same time they should pay a lot of emphasis on match fixing and other short cuts that the players take.
“Just see how the Australians dealt with their cricket cheaters? Still they are hounded and are kept out of the mainstream. Now do you think for the next one hundred years, an Australian cricketer would even think of crossing the line? Yet, what happens in Sri Lanka cricket? Our cricket management condones player indiscretion. If a Lankan cricketer crosses the line and even if it makes a huge din, the player is back in the playing arena after a couple of games. That leads to two things. The player concerned thinks that he can get off with any crime. The other is that the player number two thinks that this is the right norm and that how the wheel really turns.”
The past cricketer thinks what Sri Lanka’s need of the hour is a strong cricket administration. He said, “If there is strong cricket administration, which understands what International cricket is, and is not under obligation, especially to the senior players, things could fall into the right slot. Right now what is happening is we are plugging the wrong holes and the purge is continually incessant.”
Hope that the new sports minister would take this hint which has come within.