‘Play straight’ — Chief Selector lashes NSC head
Some call it a good combination, but many call it a deadly one -- NSC Chief Arjuna Ranatunga and Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe at a recent gathering
Chairman of Cricket Selectors, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, lashed out at his former skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga—the current head of the National Sports Council (NSC)—and the Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe for playing spoilsport.
Ranatunga has repeatedly called for the heads of the selectors after Sri Lanka’s T20 side failed to earn a semi-final spot at the recent World Cup in Australia. This is just a few weeks after Dasun Shanaka’s men clinched the Asia Cup title, beating the much-fancied Pakistan.
At a press conference on Thursday, Ranatunga, the former World Cup winning skipper, said the current selectors do not have the approval of the National Sports Selection Committee (NSSC) and that a new committee would be appointed soon.
“Don’t go beating around the bush,” Wickremasinghe said.
“If you (Sports Minister) want us to resign, tell us directly, we will do so. We didn’t come here to stay on forever. We are ready to resign but give us a valid reason, without shaming us.”
Though Wickremasinghe is not as high profile a cricketer as some of the big names that held the position of Chief Selector in the past, the former fast bowler and his team did a decent job.
“They say the National Sports Selection Committee is not recognising us and that they want to remove us,” Wickremasinghe told the Sunday Times.
“When I asked the reasons for not recognising us from the Minister, his Secretary, Director-General of Sports and the head of NSSC at a recent meeting, they had no answers but to look at each other’s faces.”
“We are number three in the ICC Test Championship points table. Clinched the country’s first major title in eight years, the Asia Cup, and then earned direct qualifications to the T20 World Cup in 2024. In ODIs we won a series against Australia. Aren’t these results of our efforts during the last 18 months?” Wickremasinghe questioned.
Pramodya Wickremasinghe
Sri Lanka won six of the 12 Tests contested during the period, losing four and drawing two. In white-ball cricket, the selectors were more ruthless in their policy. A youth-centered plan saw some of the seniors, including star all-rounder Angelo Mathews and then ODI skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, being axed. The road is long and hard for the islanders to become one of the top limited over sides in world cricket. But the team has shown steady improvement. They won three out of the six ODI series contested during the period including three straight home series wins against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia.
“When we stressed on fitness, Ranatunga himself and several former cricketers criticised it saying, ‘They are cricketers and not Olympic runners’. And now Ranatunga as NSC head is asking why fitness is not considered for selection. This is absurd. After all these dramas involving fitness, we no longer get involved in fitness. It’s done by the high performance centre. It’s very clear they want to get rid of us. It’s fine but play it straight,” he said.
The selectors were heavily criticised for dropping ‘allrounder’ Chamika Karaunratne for the ongoing ODI series against Afghanistan on social media and the Sports Minister was quick to call for a report from the selectors.
“He was removed on two grounds–lack of form and discipline,” explained Wickremasinghe.
“I explained to them (the Minister and NSSC head) the reasons why he underperformed during the World Cup. He had lost focus as he was more interested in other ‘extra-curricular’ activities which I would not likely discuss publicly at this point in time. I discussed this with the coach and then I got an email from SLC not to consider him on disciplinary grounds pending inquiry. So we decided to exclude him for the ongoing series. We want to solve this matter within the four walls of the SLC but the Ministry blew it out of proportion.”
“I have given a full report to the minister on why we exactly dropped him and he can go public with it now,” he said.
Following a disciplinary inquiry, SLC imposed a suspended sentence of one year and a fine of US$ 5000 after the player admitted for two charges: lighting an oil lamp and leaving incense sticks unattended, causing a great threat of fire at the hotel premises, endangering the safety of the entire team. He was then “involved in an exchange of words with an outsider at a casino in Brisbane thereby caused disrepute to Sri Lanka Cricket”.
Karunaratne hit 107 runs in five innings, including a career-best of 75 and picked up five wickets against Australia—his last ODI series. Commenting on the widely publicised religious mafia creeping to player selection, Wickremasinghe said that players are selected on merits and nothing but merit.
“I like to reiterate, we have been successful at least 90 percent of what we have done during the last 18 months and my request for those gunning for our heads is not to sabotage the progress the game has made,” he concluded.
Since the team returned from Australia, the Sports Minister has had several meetings with SLC officials. The latest round of talks held this week ended in argument with NSSC chief and SLC chief trading allegations and counter allegations. Ranatunga, who lost his parliamentary seat last election, has attempted to get hold of power at SLC but without success.