Sports

“You cannot hit your head against the wall. I’ve always said this whole thing is in the hands of the President of this country or the Sports Minister. If the government does not recognize the fact that this is a sport which needs special care because it is the one sport that has brought us international fame and recognition! It has brought us so many benefits. If this cannot be recognized then forget it! We are under the sports law. So we have to act within that. That’s why I say ultimately the government has to take a decision on this”

At times when I sit back and think I feel that the past Sri Lanka cricketers are somewhat similar to the poor boy next door. The poor boy, genuinely wants to play with toys, but he only can watch the naughty little rich boy next door abusing all his toys. What a cruel world!

The Cricket Board election which has gathered momentum like an on coming ominous avalanche is scheduled for next week with the two perennial factions who have been fighting a relentless battle for the past eleven years to get hold of the plum. However like a god send those men who have played the game in the middle and sweated it out for the sake of the country more than for their own glory have gelled themselves together in one voice to guide the game in the right direction. But seemingly that bid too has been shot down mid stream by those so called lovers of the game for reasons known only to them.
Nevertheless The Sunday Times did not want to let things be as they were. We at this end wanted to discover what their agenda was and what really made them at least come forward. Upon our request to meet one of them The Cricketers Forum appointed none other than the past cricket administrator and Sri Lanka opening batsman Sidath Wettimuny to spell out the current situation and how they view the entire scenario.

Sidath began “To me it was very refreshing to note that a lot of cricketers wanting to get together and talk about cricket and offering to help. Why shouldn’t we give them a chance if there is anything that we can do to change the present trend of what is happening. Why not offer our services. And then as a solution, the fact that the Board has twenty or twenty two positions why not offer both sides eleven people so that consensus is possible in the event of a major decision.

The former opening batsman continued. “In this forum there was no one who said I will do this or I will do that. It was an extremely harmonious thing where we were looking at what we could do for cricket. So this offer was made where both sides had eleven. We did not say that we prefer this side or that side. Whoever wins the same lot will be there. That itself could bridge some of this disharmony that is prevalent at present. In my mind it was a wonderful idea if it becomes a reality. However I had my doubts if there would be consensus on both sides. Like wise, one side accepted and the other side did not, but at least we tried.

When we pointed out that this situation did not arise overnight, but was a trend that had been continuing for the past eleven years, Sidath answered “Yes, since lately, people, especially our past cricketers have been asking……what is happening? Every year from 1966 there was a change in the administration. There were these two factions battling each other. So when one side is in, the other side is not contributing, and when the other side is in, this side does not contribute. So obviously there is no cohesion and co-operation. When you read the papers you know what has happened. For instance there was this Colombo District Cricket Association Elections. There again there was turmoil. Who knows what’s next? What will happen when the main election day arrives. No one knows? So you can see that there is turmoil. So I thought this was a sound gesture by some of our past cricketers and there were lots of them. I am happy to say let’s try and do something Lets try and see whether we can stop this battle going on so that cricket can move ahead. The danger is … fine we have a cricket team that is doing well at present, but are we looking at the infrastructure on a long term basis. I do not think any administration - in fairness to whichever the administration that has been in power - has a chance of setting up something and seeing it through. Now take this current Interim Committee. I am sure they have set some plans in motion, like all interim committees or different boards have done, but nobody has been able to say … ‘right now we have had a clear term without a problem, lets go ahead and implement what we have proposed, so that the benefits may trickle down to the cricketers and the youth of the country. That does not happen. Again when I read the papers that’s all I can go by … things are again brewing. You can see the turmoil. I do not know whether it is going to be a successfully concluded election … I don’t think.

When asked what the agenda of the Cricketers Forum was to go, by the ex-national cricketer said “The agenda was to offer our services to key cricketing areas so that the cricket part of it is in safe hands and things can run. For example the Cricket Committee, the Tournament Committee, the Umpiring Committee and such areas to be handled by cricketers who are capable of handling these areas. It was only to look at the co-cricket areas. Ultimately that’s the key. Besides that, we wanted to bring about some stability. If this proposal was accepted, whichever side won, at least among the cricketers there would have been some consensus and I am sure there would have been more cricketers who would have joined in. The cricketers there would say that this is an independent bloc. There is a lot of independence here. So let’s help the cause of cricket. Right now what is happening is one bunch of cricketers might say I am supporting this side and other may say that I am supporting the other… yes a few, a very few may say that, but the majority of the cricketers want some harmony and a workable environment. If not they do not want to get involved. So the nice thing is that now both sides have agreed in toto that we gracefully move out. We do not want to get involved in any sort of confrontation or conflict.

Then from this end we asked the question of getting back to square one -- this was to the effect “you started something good, but now you back-out when things are not going your way. The reply came promptly….”You cannot hit your head against the wall. I’ve always said this whole thing is in the hands of the President of this country or the Sports Minister. If the government does not recognize the fact that this is a sport which needs special care because it is the one sport that has brought us international fame and recognition! It has brought us so many benefits. If this cannot be recognized then forget it! We are under the sports law. So we have to act within that. That’s why I say ultimately the government has to take a decision on this.

To our question where we go from here, Sidath’s reply was that a message had been clearly given to the public and the government that there are past cricketers willingly volunteering their services for the greater good of the game. Some say you talk and do nothing …you have to offer your services. Here was a way of offering our services in a dignified way. That is my belief. We did not want to get involved in a fight and a struggle, instead we offered our services. Now it has fallen apart. I do not know what our next step is going to be.

Finally we asked “now if Mr. X comes into power and he feels that these cricketers can be of help to him and invites them to join his team what would be your step?” Sidath Wettimuny said “I do not think it is fair for me to talk on behalf of everybody else, but, I get the feeling that a lot of cricketers are disenchanted with the present state of affairs. That is why I think this change of mood among the cricketers has taken place. That’s why they said let’s get together and do something collectively, because what happens is if you are in camps or sides, invariably you get branded. This way we were trying to break this deadlock. This camp thing is hugely politicized. I do not think there is any other administration that is more politicized. The other day I was shocked to hear that we have hundred and forty odd voters to elect the people to run the cricket in this country. In countries like New Zealand, Australia and England I am not quite sure about the exact number but I am sure that it is a few people only that vote at the administrative body elections. It is very interesting to know exactly how many electors they have at their elections. But in Sri Lanka which is the smallest of them all have gone mad. We have hundred and 140 or so people turning up at the elections. I just said to myself how can you run a system which is heavily laden with people? We need to change that. We need to change this voting pattern. I am told that there are people from clubs that really do not exist – there is no club house, there is no identity – why give votes to them? I can’t understand how it has developed into this situation! Clubs who do not play cricket, who do not have a club house, have the vote. I do not know ……to me it is really staggering to have a system of this nature! I think its just madness. Only the government with the Sports Law can change this.” Said a despairing Sidath Wettimuny in conclusion.