One before the last in one segment definitely is not a huge achievement. While watching the Wayamba Xl performing at the Champions League tournament one thing was evident – the team lacked the “Musli Power” to sustain themselves. With six national cricketers in their ranks the Wayamba team played worse than an “Ehinda’s Xl’ that you often see in softball cricket. In short they did not gel.
My mind was racing, I had this hunch that our provincial champions Wayamba, who come from a concept – provincial cricket -- that is still in its testing stages, were not the real thing. They could not stand the crunch of a tournament in the nature of the Champions League where teams that come out and compete belong to well set forms of organization rather than the Lankan version of the ‘House that Jack built’.
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| Michael de Zoysa expressing his views. Pic by Sanka Vidanagama |
Mundane me kept thinking that Sri Lanka under a club concept had won the Cricket World Cup, become the runners-up, shared the Champions trophy, scored cricket’s highest Test, ODI and the T-20 score and produced the best bowler ever. The list goes on and on and obviously I am still in this notion where Sri Lankans wore their swimming trunks with the stream still one mile away. If at all who should have been there was the T-20 club champions – the Chilaw Marians.
For sure I know that veteran club administrator and SSC’s Cricket Committee Chief Michael de Zoysa has lived by the club concept and for the past three decades he has lived by his principles and nurtured the Sinhalese Sports Club’s cause like no other. In short, when it comes to this particular question, is Sri Lanka ready for the Provincial concept?
First de Zoysa touched on the Wayamba predicament. He agreed that the main ingredient is the sense of belonging and added “Yes, they did win a T-20 tournament. As you know T-20 cricket is more by-chance than any other.
‘Firstly, they were the champions in Sri Lanka in the provincial tournament. Then you must ask how many of the best players were available for the tournament – unavailable through injury or touring elsewhere…. that is the way you must look at it. I feel that Wayamba would not have come through if the other teams were at full strength. Secondly these provincial sides are picked at random. It is very unlikely that they can blend together without a long-term background to that team. Since they won the provincial tournament they may have practised together for one month, but, they had nothing in common. Just imagine the time they won the tournament and the time they made the tour, there is a huge gap between the two, there was no manager holding together, no regular meetings – it is the team and not the individual”.
Then the Musings queried about Chilaw Marians with lesser known players who represented Sri Lanka in the 2005 International 20:20 Club Championship in England and ended up as the runners-up and de Zoysa said: “That’s what my entire argument is about. It is about the togetherness. The coach knows them all. They are always together. In reality the Chilaw Marians were the premier champions last season. They became the under 23 champions this season and they have a good thing going. At the same time the management structure is working very well. This is what Wayamba lacks. There may be a paid coach from the board for that job for that term along with some provincial officials who never meet the players.
In a blunt form we put the next question about the club cricket system that has been around for the past century and while it is well accepted and produced proven results the authorities are promoting this provincial cricket concept over this time-tested system.
A rather annoyed de Zoysa retorted: “I totally disagree with what’s going on. If the Club cricket system is properly managed and properly run, keeping a maximum of 10-12 teams at the top level, the money that they are spending on the provincial teams could be sent to those clubs.
“Coaching facilities should be extended to those clubs. The physios, computer analysts – all those facilities must be extended to the clubs. Then the club concept will get even stronger, more efficient. The authorities spend an awful lot of money on the 6-7 matches of the provincial tournament in the beginning or at the end of a season.
“If they really want the Provincial concept to take off they must start with the schools in the given province. Then without having provincial cricket at under 15, under 17 and under 19 level, they must have one at the under 19 level and take the schools from the given province. Take the Wayamba from those school, the Central from that region, Southern Province from the Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts, the Colombo District may have to be broken into three then you have the Northern province and add Chilaw area to that then may have 7-8 good provincial teams and from the age of seventeen they keep playing for their provinces and that would give them a sense of belonging.
That would help their under 19 selections. They will think that they belong to that province and even when they join a club they would want to go back and play for their province.” De Zoysa also argued that as a result of the wrong policies and inadequate infrastructure, the system has lost teams that represented Kurunegala (2), Galle CC, Dimbulla, Badulla etc. He said that these clubs are either playing in lower divisions or not playing at all. The other reason he showed that there were no employment in those areas and all cricketers converge on Colombo for employment. “As a result Colombo cricket has grown very strong. That is the strength of our cricket and what is wrong with that?”
He also warned that clustering of the clubs for Provincial reasons may be a very damaging thing for the game in the long run and it may be a ruse to kill club cricket.
In another point he said “People who say that club cricket is bad are people who hardly play club cricket. Some of the current national players are on national duty, or playing for IPL, or in South Africa, or in England or trying to play in Australia. So where have they got the time to assess the strength of Sri Lankan Club Cricket?” |
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