Arjuna was a very fine leader

An Interview with Arjuna Ranatunga in The Sunday Times of 17th December appropriately titled "From Riches to Rags," reveals the sorry state of Sports in this country. The very fact that a man like Arjuna who brought so much glory to Sri Lanka by leading a team from the front to win the first ever World Cup in the history of this Country has been sidelined and several nincompoops have been appointed to guide the destinies of Sri Lanka Sports, shows the pathetic situation that prevails with regard to Sports in this Country.

I would like to quote from the Managers report on the tour of New Zealand in 1995 when we won the first ever Test win abroad, in reference to Arjuna :- "Arjuna proved on this tour that he was one of the finest Captains in the International Circuit. He was in full command of the situation from day one and he brought to bear his knowledge of the game and experience, on the other players, in such a convincing manner that the entire team without a single exception rallied round him at every turn. In my opinion Arjuna should take a large measure of credit for the success of this tour. His guidance of the younger players and his ability to get the best out of all the players was remarkable. He was responsible for building self confidence in every one of the players and keeping the morale of the team high at all times. This man is a leader par excellence and the BCCSL should make use of his vast experience which no Cricketer past or present has, to guide the destinies of Cricket in the future. After he decides to hang up his boots, the BCCSL should retain his services to guide the future of Cricket in this country. I was lucky that Arjuna captained the team that I managed. I had an excellent relationship with him and he cooperated with me at all times."

In my opinion Sports in this country is the poorer by not making use of the extraordinary talents of this great Sportsman. He was a man with a vision. I can remember that more than 10 years ago he was pioneering an effort to start a Cricket Academy and a hostel particularly for outstation Cricketers but as the finances of the BCCSL was at a very low ebb before we won the World cup, these proposals remained dormant till better days arrived. Better days did arrive after the World Cup win and hundreds of millions flowed in, but what happened thereafter is a another sordid story in the history of Sri Lanka Cricket.

No sport in this country other than Cricket can reach international standards or even Asian standards as the basic facilities and infrastructure is not available for other Sports. As far as Cricket is concerned we are very lucky that we have a Schools Cricket competition at juvenile and junior levels, sometimes starting at the under 11 level. No other country in the world has a nursery of this sort for Cricket. But here again we have been giving step motherly treatment to School Cricket till recently. The amount of money invested in School Cricket is woefully inadequate. The BCCSL spent over Rs 500 million on the Dambulla Stadium and what has been the return on this colossal expenditure? Sri Lanka Cricket does not even own this Stadium. I told the then President of the BCCSL that had he invested Rs100 million to improve the facilities and infrastructure of School Cricket the return on the investment would have been one hundred times more. I am personally aware that even today that several Schools particularly in the outstations are unable to continue playing Cricket due to financial constraints. Very recently an outstation School which has been playing Cricket for over 75 years informed me that they have cancelled their 1st term fixtures for 2007 due to lack of finances.

With regard to talent, there is immense resources that have been untapped in the outstations. Even Chamara Silva was able to make his Test debut only at 27 years. He had the makings of Aravinda when I spotted him playing for a relatively unknown school, Royal College Panadura. I contacted the then Chairman of Selectors and requested him to have a good look at this talented Cricketer and he was subsequently selected to the under 19 squad. He continued playing for Panadura S.C. and this may have resulted in his being dropped from the Senior pool. He then joined the SSC with the hope of getting selection to the National pool but here too he did not get much recognition. He next joined Sebastianites and scored heavily for them and finally the present Selection Committee recognised his potential. There are many more Chamara Silvas who are in the wilderness, who cannot reach their true potential due financial constraints. I think it is appropriate to quote the following Elegy from Thomas Grey to drive home my point:

"Full many a gem of the purest ray serene, the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness in the desert air. With malice towards none.”

Yours Sincerely,
Neil Perera.
(Former Secretary BCCSL and Former Manager Sri Lanka Cricket Team)