Runaway train going too fast

It was just last week while we were browsing through the internet suddenly we came across a news item which read that Sri Lanka had agreed to tour Pakistan on a consolation tour in the aftermath of Australia deciding to choose another day to fulfil their FTP obligation.

As to why Australia really decided to postpone the Pakistan tour and why the Asia Cup tournament was put off to June this year may be a closely guarded secret among a limited edition of the world’s cricket hierarchy. But, how sweetly a window was created to accommodate the Indian Premier League is very intriguing.

Then after all the behind-the-scene work had been accomplished and everything was in place for the gala launch of this cricket carnival that has not got the official tag, but has the unofficial blessings of the ICC, a decision was made at some other forum to have another tour that would clash with the dates of the IPL. This raised a few eyebrows in many quarters.

Returning to our original statement once reading this news item we were a little perturbed on the timing of this whole episode. So without dropping a minute we were on the phone with a very influential member of the SLC. We put the question across to him and asked if the timing was right. In the first instance he was hearing of a news item – being the official that he is – for the first time. So, it was we who broke the news to him.

However the issue started rising like flour mixed with yeast and within the next 48 hours the whole subcontinent was a hive of activity. In short the Lankan cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga had got it wrong. We wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Ranatunga’s sentiments about twenty20 cricket and we too fervently believe that it is not god’s own gift to the cricketing fraternity. Nevertheless we also believe in a thing called protocol, status quo and obligations.

In the first instance Mr. Ranatunga should have been in possession of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) put out by the ICC and should have also known that Sri Lanka already had given the nod to nine of their senior cricketers to take part in the IPL tournament which would make them the instant rich. Now when the weekend media pointed the chinks in the armour, SLC put out a hastily concocted paragraph about Sri Lanka playing the Pakistan series after the IPL.

Once again the FTP comes into play. The IPL goes from 18 April to 1 June. At that juncture begins the Asia Cup that will be played in Pakistan from June 24 to July 6 and then the Lankan cricketers get busy again from July 23 to August 29 in a crucial tie against India which will decide upon the regional cricketing giant. The Lankans who are in the West Indies at present will set foot in Sri Lanka the day before the IPL starts and for the majority of them the only break will be the three weeks prior to the Asia Cup, and if any one is vehement in poking in a five ODI programme during this break it would be more detrimental than being helpful as they only had a break of about ten days between their tours of Australia and the West Indies.

Now the question arises if all’s well in the hallowed halls of Maitland Place? Of late we hear so many contradicting stories. Ever since that back-stabbing BCCSL elections of 1996, most elected to the hot seats had crosses of questions strung behind their backs. This situation compelled the authorities to introduce the interim committee system that has almost become permanent. At the same time the call that the cricketers must be given the choice of looking after their own destiny always interested us. So when finally it was handed over to the World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga – a long time aspirant of this position we too were elated.

The way he analysed the tentative situation that Sri Lankan cricket was and the way he pointed out what the exact root causes that ailed the game, that we all love so much, we were even happier. Then when he started having a dialogue with the past Test fraternity and the others down the line in succession as to how he could use their expertise for the improvement of cricket we thought the game was finally on the right track.

Then gradually we begin to hear the other side of the record. First it was the appointment given to a permanent turncoat and a few negligible drippings from the tap. Then came the more serious news of the gagging of the secretary who generally is the official spokesman of the SLC. Down the grapevine we hear that he has been sidelined because he has not played the game, but from what we have learned this secretary has played the game in the first division besides his corporate background.

Then in the next turn it was news about a section of the interim committee kept in the dark and certain vital decisions taken by a select few. Is this situation progressive or regressive is a question that will be answered by ‘father time’. Ironically we can see the water seeping in from the bottom of the boat. However we feel that it is not too late to plug the hole and move on in the right direction, before it becomes a hole which could sink the ship.

Right now what is needed most are the remedies needed for the anomalies that have stricken local cricket and this has even got to the very core of the game. However we at this end feel that by creating unwanted divisions one may not to be able to run the entire distance desired by those who love the game of cricket.

Cricket on the field is one aspect. Now at present cricket has become a huge corporate affair that talks in millions of dollars than mere rupees. In a scenario of that nature it is advisable for one to know his limits and restrain and leave the rest to experts.