By the time the Sunday Times reader goes through this article Sri Lanka on the third-day of the third and final Test match against Australia may be in a position of command or in their now usual backfoot defence. Still this article is a dialogue about the present predicament of the most-followed sport in the country and what has brought forth this tentative situation to the Lankan’s game of cricket.
It is a proven fact that any team is susceptible to these high and low points in the run in their game. For instance, once the giants who set the pace in world cricket, bade adieu even a side like Australia experienced the shudders and now they are a side that could be beaten.
Why we term this touring Australian squad as one of the weakest combinations to fly across the straits of Malacca is that in the aftermath of the Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Langer era –the giant is not so tall. In addition, Ricky Ponting, arguably the best thing that happened to Australian batting after Don Bradman – at least in the sense of sheer accumulation – is short of runs by his own standards. Yet, still the Australian cricket seems to be gradually rowing towards the shore.
The Lankan ascent in Test cricket began in 2004 when they beat South Africa at home 1-0 and from that point onwards in twenty four series that they were engaged in, the islanders have lost only six series – losing twice to India away, and once each to New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia and England. For a nation which began its run in the big league only in the 1980s this is an impressive run indeed.
With this ascent, the Lankans who gathered momentum in their post World Cup win in 1996, began to show their maturity even in the longer version of the game – an accolade that never came to the Lankans in its true sense.
Since Sri Lanka won the Cricket World Cup in 1996, two things occurred simultaneously. The first was that the rest of the cricketing world began to look at Sri Lanka with more respect and was more circumspect while playing against Sri Lanka. Then on the part of the Sri Lankans who had been involved in the game for the good part of a century began to take all their opponents on an equal footing and began to play them with more self confidence.
Yet, in 1999, the first cricket explosion occurred when Sri Lanka defending the ’96 World Cup failed miserably largely because of internal strife which resulted in a drop in team performance.
These drawbacks had a far-reaching effect. It saw the introduction of the interim committee system, with the Chandrika Bandaranaike-led ULF government in 2001 introducing the first Interim Committee. Led by top corporate administrator and cricketer Vijaya Malalasekera, the committee ousted the elected administration of businessman Thilanga Sumathipala who by then had built his own empire in the cricketing kingdom in Sri Lanka. In the same vein World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga who had held on to his reins a year too long made way for Sanath Jayasuriya.
After one interim year the Malalasekera administration made way for the Hemaka Amarasuriya administration, which in turn once again made way for elections and the foregone conclusion of another Sumathipala administration. This was in 2003.
It should be mentioned that the two administrations led by Malalasekera and Amarasuriya were more into the development of the game rather than cementing their base. They were aware that they had a job at hand, concentrated on it and this yielded results.
After the Hashan Tillekeratne-led Lankan team lost a home series 3-0 to Australia in early 2004, the Lankan team led by Marvan Atapattu beat Zimbabwe and also registered their maiden series win against South Africa.
Sumathipala or the Sumathipala-led administrations stayed on till 2005 when the then sports minister Jeewan Kumaranatunga made way for the administration of Jayantha Dharmadasa who in turn gave up his chair for Member of Parliament Arjuna Ranatunga on January 1, 2008 – an appointment which was hardly a true cricket move.
From this point onwards, the Lankan cricket administration and the Lankan cricket got directly embroiled in day-to-day politics in the country. However, only eight months in the seat Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge ousted Ranatunga and ran the Lankan cricket affairs through his ministry officials for a few months, during which the deal with Ten Sports was completed.
The next in as the Interim head was D.S. de Silva. Though himself a former national cap, he lacked the right credentials to run an administration of that magnitude. The result was the puppeteers started ruling the roost while the wily operators ate the chunks of the cricket cake.
Once again the politicization of cricket which began in 2008 is showing its results in the field. Like in 1999 cohesiveness in the dressing room is a thing of the past. The eleven individuals play a measured game, but, the commanding Sri Lanka cricket is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
We learn through the grapevine that even past cricketers who are the ruling party politicians are more powerful than some of the cricket administrators. In this manner the cricket elections that is made mandatory by the ICC is bound be a farce.
What happens today behind closed doors at Maitland Place, will be enacted in the middle at the SSC grounds tomorrow. The show has begun? Have you purchased your tickets and booked a good seat? |
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