Was there an underhand deal that also went along with SLC’s much-publicized project of Schools Cricket Material Distribution which was pioneered by the present Chairman D.S. de Silva?

D.S. de Silva

Though SLC claimed that each senior bag (given to a senior team) was worth Rs. 350,000 and a junior bag Rs. 250,000, some recipients noted that a bagful of SF brand material that they received could not cost the amount claimed by SLC.

According to a source from a leading Colombo school, they received one senior bag and one junior bag four months ago. Each bag contained five bats, five pairs of batting pads, five pairs of batting gloves, five helmets, two pairs of wicket-keeping gloves, twelve balls (with a promise that more balls would be given later), a pair of wicket-keeping pads and five arm guards.

A senior SF bat, imported from India and made of Kashmir willow, is presently available in the open market at Rs. 2,750 while a junior bat costs Rs.1, 500. (A bat made out of English willow from the same brand would cost more.)

The source also added that with this quality material imported from India, the bag should cost far less than the amount claimed by the SLC even if they buy at open market rate and it would cost only around Rs. 90,000/- or less.

The project began one-and-half years ago under the chairmanship of Arjuna Ranatunga with D.S. de Silva then handling the Schools Project as an SLC employee. At that time de Silva had personally visited and compiled a list of recipients, but the source added that some of the schools that had received the material did not have the necessary infrastructure to even think of hard ball cricket.

The equipment was distributed among 400 schools in the island and was a project that worked out for more than Rs.100 million. SLC chairman D.S. de Silva said that he was surprised to hear about this complaint and said that these were quality equipment imported from India and even some of the national players use this SF equipment.