Cricket selection committee pick runs into chaos
Confusion reigns over the appointment of a new National Cricket Selection Committee Chairman following Ashantha de Mel’s recent resignation just two months after he received a one-year extension.
De Mel left at the end of the two-match Test series against England on January 27, when Sri Lanka suffered their second successive 2-0 drubbing in a space of six weeks. They were earlier beaten by South Africa 2-0.
Since then, however, the National Sports Selection Committee (NSSC) headed by Army Commander General Shavendra Silva has struggled to finalise de Mel’s replacement.
Chaminda Mendis and Pramodya Wickremasinghe neither resigned nor were sacked following the recent defeats and remain selectors. On Friday, they selected the team to West Indies. But there’s a likelihood either one or both will be replaced in an all-new committee to be appointed during the next couple of weeks.
While Pramodya’s name has been sent along with six others for the NSSC to pick and choose from, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has not nominated Chaminda Mendis, widely seen as a hands-on selector. They gave no reason for his exclusion.
Ashantha, Pramodya and Chaminda were appointed in December for a 12-month period following extensive screening but the Board’s decision to exclude Chaminda’s name from the list of nominees has surprised many.
“This is absurd,” a cricket source said.
“When Ashantha de Mel resigned they should have replaced him with a new Chairman or the committee with new faces. How did they decide Pramodya is good and Chaminda is not good to be on the committee? What are the criteria they used?”
According to the Board member, the same selectors have been shuffled every now and then for most of the last two decades owing to the refusal of many former cricketers to accept the positions. SLC does not employ full-time cricket selectors unlike other countries and only pays an allowance for their contribution.
“If people who have been sacked as selectors can come back and hold the same position, there’s something radically wrong in our system,” the sources added. “This is what we see every now and then and this needs to be changed. We need fresh minds to take over the job and not those tried and tested failures.”
Among the names suggested were Romesh Kaluwitharana, Hemantha Wickremaratne and Waruna Waragoda, all of whom have held the position previously.
A member of the NSSC told the Sunday Times they are evaluating the candidates and would make a final decision on the new committee’s composition by the end of this week.
“One thing is guaranteed, we will do proper screening of all candidates before including them in the committee. This is the delay,” the NSSC member said.