Sports - Cricket pickle la Lanka

Muck-ups, cover-ups and other allied ills seem to be plaguing the hallowed halls of Sri Lanka’s cricketing Mecca at Maitland Place. Maybe that they still do not know that age-old clichés “There is no smoke without fire” and about the “people living in glass houses should not pelt stones at others’. To my mind the whole Jayasuriya-De Mel episode was an “atepattu”.

To begin with everybody likes to know how and why suddenly Asantha de Mel was air dropped as chairman of selectors and was there a hidden agenda behind it? After that the entire hullabaloo that took place in the cricket hierarchy still remains a mystery. However once a man takes over a seat that seat has to be respected. Whatever the argument put forward anyone has to admit that former Sri Lanka fast medium bowler Asantha de Mel was a good reader of the game from the time he was an on field performer. His tally of 59 wickets in just 17 matches when Sri Lanka was only an fledgling Test playing nation bears ample testimony to his skills. At the same time he was no mean handler of the bat in the late order.

Once De Mel took the entire Lankan cricket authority by surprise, may be someone down the line did not like the idea of being taken by surprise.

The first bomb against the appointment of De Mel came when newspaper reports carried an item to the effect that the rest of the incumbent panel of selectors aired their differences of opinion with De Mel which was later hushed up or swept under the carpet.

The next came when De Mel asked some persons who matter in the Lankan cricketing circles for a light cricketing banter as to how they should act to take the game forward from this point onwards. Perhaps there may have been some exchange of views on various issues, but for the second time mysteriously some stories hit the headlines only to be refuted by the SLC later on.

Then down the grapevine came another hilarious story. So it was said that when a second meeting was requested among those who sat at the first meeting a very senior member is reported to have come out with a statement to the effect that he would only attend that meeting if it was held at the Galle Face Green with loud speakers, so that the general public could hear every word about their exchange of views.

What does all this mean? The entire hierarchy of the cricketing community is in two camps trying to undermine one another. This forebodes that Sri Lankan cricket is getting deepen into the mire.

Then comes the million dollar question. Has Sanath Jayasuriya, a cricketer of many a season now become a victim of circumstances? There is no gainsaying his abilities or his contribution to local cricket. At the same time it is also no secret that he has been out of cricket since the Kandy Test against Pakistan a couple of moons ago. However the deeper you dig into the matter the more complex it gets! It seems the crux of the matter is not whether Sanath Jayasuriya is fit to play in the Test matches or not, but a faction of the cricketing hierarchy feels that their authority is undermined if he was included into the final Xl for the second Test. One faction feels that the players who were selected from their panel of judges should be given preference over the selections made by De Mel and company.

What will be the next scenario in Sri Lanka cricket? Once the De Mel selection panel is in full force with the naming the ODI squad which follows this Test series? The situation is bound to get deeper into another quagmire. At this point we who are watching this whole episode through the looking glass feel that there are two series of tests which are taking place at the same time. One is the players getting into the middle, testing their skills against the skills of their counterparts who taught them the rudiments of this lovely game at one point of time. The next is another match to test who wields the power between these two factions appointed by the same government that is in power using the players as pawns. At the same time I also feel sorry for the other officials (and some others) who are sandwiched between this tense power struggle as they will have to pay for the sins of the others.