32 days of excitement, before cricket gets new admin
Besides the General Election or a Presidential Election, the next big quest to power is the race to the hot seat of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Erasing all doubts of the appointment of a potential Interim Committee, the Ministry of Sports finally agreed to hold SLC elections as initially planned after discussions with the International Cricket Council (ICC), but had to be rescheduled for February 21 on legal advice.
Besides the twist of tales, SLC is set to come under a new administration from February 21, but what gives goosebumps, not only to the cricketing fraternity but to the whole country and even the world of cricket, is the verbal crossfire between the rival parties to make their campaign a success.
It is openly known by now that two factions will be contesting for the upcoming SLC elections, with former Secretary Mohan de Silva leading one and former President Jayantha Dharmadasa leading the other. De Silva’s faction, known to have a number of loyal candidates of the former president Thilanga Sumathipala, while Dharmadasa’s side consist of a few known and new faces. Strangely, yet plainly both parties have already claimed of being victors, saviors and the ‘true lovers’ of cricket.
De Silva’s faction easily cried foul on the recent events that took place during a press conference held last Thursday in a afternoon at the CCC premises while pointing the finger straight to the newly appointed Minister of Sports, Harin Fernando, as the liable party, if the ICC imposes a ban on Sri Lanka. Elsewhere on the same day former President Sumathipala, too raised his concerns on repercussions SLC would face for the recent acts of the Sports Minister, but at a political platform.
De Silva’s team includes Shammi Silva and Raveen Wickramarathne contesting for the two Vice Presidents positions, with Bandula Dissanayake contesting for the Secretary and Lasantha Wickramasinghe contesting for Treasurer positions.
Late in the evening, same day, Dharmadasa and his band of men held a press conference and there the Sports Minister was praised for his efforts of eradicating corruption from cricket. Dharmadasa’s team includes K. Mathivanan and former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranathunga contesting for the two Vice President positions. The Secretary position is contested by Nishantha Ranathunga while Hirantha Perera is with the team as the candidate for Assistant Secretary. Former banker Eastman Narangoda will contest for the position of Treasurer with Dr. Sanjaya Sedara coming in as his Assistant.
Both press conferences were attended by almost the same set of pressmen, who would have had a clear picture of what is forthcoming in the remaining 32 days. Observing of what was spoken out at both meetings what could be clearly seen is the desperation of certain individuals to win by any means.
The SLC portfolio currently is a clear reflection of how the country, as a whole, functioned for a couple of months since October 26, 2018. Whatever happens or whoever gets elected to office on February 21, their gigantic task will be restoring the faith of 21 million plus cricket crazy Sri Lankans they had on the sport, which put the tiny island on the world map.
During the past few years, for whatever reasons, internal feuds, unethical moves and shortsighted decisions only pushed SLC down the gutter as an administrative unit and that emphatic brand of cricket portrayed the national team, resulting only in humiliations, one after another. By today, with just five months away from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the only visible progress Sri Lanka is highly focused on is electing the SLC office bearers.
Come what may, leave out winning the ICC World Cup, but a passage to the second round or at least an honourable exit with a few good wins, to begin the task of the elected body. In the coming days, the campaign for the SLC hot seat will surely become more intense and vigorous than ever. Allegations will fly over the heads of one another, surprises may came from nowhere, yet the message from the general public is clear, make Sri Lanka cricket great again.
