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Cricket!…Going , going, gone?
The latest to grip cricketing circles in this tiny Test playing nation is to find out if Dyson dying or not? With the national cricketers taking a break from their international commitments, the national cricket coach former Australian opening batsman John Dyson whose contract is coming to an end is also taking a break from his overseas duties back home Down Under.

Speculation is rife. One school of thought is under the notion that Dyson has not contributed enough for the betterment of the game in Sri Lanka since his taking over and he should go. Many names are bartered at present. Some of the names that are going around come from the same land as Dyson. They are Steve Rixon, Geoff Marsh and former South African born England Test player Allan Lamb and even the legendary Australian captain Steve Waugh himself. Besides this, in the fray are the two Sri Lankan stalwarts Roy Dias and Rumesh Ratnayake. Dyson’s present contract will expire on March 31, 2005.

The to ascertain the official situation the Sunday Musings turned to President of Sri Lanka Cricket Mohan de Silva. The SLC President's reply was "Dyson will be back in Sri Lanka on March 1 in preparation for the tour of New Zealand". In reply we asked the question " Then it means that the SLC has given him another extension?" Then the SLC president explained "yes, we have prepared a new contract for him and if he is agreeable to that he can go on without a change. However at the same time we also have been on the lookout and also have spoken to a few just in case that Dyson does not agree to our new terms. But, I have to stress that we have given him the first preference".

Then comes the next question. Where is our cricket heading? Are we sustaining our standards to be equally competitive at the international level?

One of the major concerns in world cricket today is the ever-growing disparity in World Cricket. At one end the Australians are lapping all other competitors on the track while extending their lead by the minute. In the top half England, India, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand are almost in one league while South Africa, Pakistan and the West Indies are trying to fathom as to what happened to them and at the bettom Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are out of their depths and sometimes may not be able to hold their own against a state or a strong club side among the rest of the Test playing nations.

When the end result becomes too obvious and too much of a known secret, people tend to lose interest in whatever the event is and is it happening to this noble game of cricket?

In a recent article the former England "A" captain Mark Nicholas who now has turned into an acknowledged cricket commentator in Australia wrote to the Melbourne Age:-

Cricket is a game fighting for its credibility. Amid the joy (for we Poms) of England's record run of eight Test victories and Australia's impressive bunch of world beaters, there are major causes for concern. Players lurch around the world fulfilling fixtures that frequently mean nothing against countries that are no good. Neither Zimbabwe nor Bangladesh would cut it against an average state or county team.

It is unarguably awful for the credibility of the game worldwide that Australia is winning Test matches so easily. It is worse still that John Buchanan, the Australian coach, felt obliged to come out in defence of his players last week: "Our job is not to mark time and wait for other teams to catch up. Our job is to keep improving, individually and collectively. It is upon the other teams and the ICC (International Cricket Council) to work out ways to accelerate their progress." That he had to say so much reflects the frustration here in Australia. Australians love a contest and they are not getting one.

Pakistan was a disgrace in the Perth Test. It expected to lose and duly did so with embarrassing ease. Its captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, moped around, batted feebly and spent much of the third day off the field with a stomach bug. And to think his job is to inspire. Bob Woolmer, the coach, said he would seek psychological help for the players. What he needs is a miracle.

All this is part of a malaise that began infecting international cricket about a decade ago. Its effect has been a worry, now it is becoming extreme. The West Indies thought it had the formula bottled until lazy, overpaid cricketers replaced the marvellous ones who had set a standard that was taken for granted. There was no provision for the future and Brian Lara has carried the can. South Africa deserves sympathy because its future was always uncertain but claims that reverse racism is killing the game have nothing on the racism that preceded it and excluded the majority of the country from playing the game meaningfully.

England has had no excuse. Administration of the game has been painfully weak, in-house, short-sighted and selfish. To a degree, it still is. For a while the brilliance of Ian Botham and David Gower papered over the cracks but the English game had been an anachronism long before their tenure.

Of the major nations, only in India does cricket continue to convince and even there, the crowds for Test matches are shrinking and the powerbrokers invest more in themselves than in the game for which they stand. Sri Lankans are in love with cricket but everyone wants a piece of everything. So the key figures play musical chairs and no one is left alone to embrace the wider picture and lead the advance to the next stage of development and quality.

This little piece gives the whole story in a nutshell. We only can shake our heads in agreement and say "every word he says is true". Now to bridge the disparity cricket's and to hold the spectator interest cricket's governing body is organising a special game where a World Xl will meet the Australian team in a six day Test. All we have a ask is that is this the answer to the present predicament? Will it hold interest like the national fervour?

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