A plea for sanity

President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Presidential Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayake

Former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe

New Sports Minister Harin Fernando

Let’s not over dramatise and or politicise yesterday’s removal of the portfolios of Sports and Irrigation of Roshan Ranasinghe (RR).

 At the outset let me declare total impartiality, no supporter of either RR or Shammi Silva.

I am only concerned about the future of Sri Lankan sports, cricket in particular. 

Whether one likes it or not Shammi and SL Cricket (SLC) Admin team were voted in a legally accepted election and duly sanctioned by the world governing body of cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC). 

RR crucially made the cardinal mistake of taking the bull by the horn and installing an Interim Committee of his own choice. Regardless of personalities in this Interim Committee it’s a strict No for a Government Minister to sack or install another governing Cricket Board under the aegis of the Government, period. 

The writer will not waste time and energy dwelling on the many allegations and counter allegations of and against RR and Shammi and Co which sadly descended into an intractable conflict. To make matters worse even fiercely debated in the SL Parliament! There was no pretense of ever feigning ignorance that Governmental intervention or interference was really happening! There was blatant Government interference that made the ICC immediately suspend SLC. Hobson’s Choice, period! 

Many balanced and sane voices (including Ex Sports Minister Harin Fernando - now reappointed Sports Minister) appealed for sanity and implored RR and Team not to go ahead with their plans of sacking the legally appointed SLC Board and replacing it with the Interim Cricket Committee of RR’s choice headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, the popular, much loved and respected SL cricketing personality. 

A great cricketing talent need not necessarily be a great administrator! Let’s park this point for later.

RR went to town gleefully making public the remuneration of the SLC Board members and coaching staff. The timing of such disclosures was perhaps aimed at inciting public outrage especially, on the heels of SLC’s relatively poor performance at the ODI World Cup Championship in India.

Naturally for the uninitiated such USD salaries appeared to be totally outrageous especially as SLC had struck such low ebb.

However, let’s look at this from a macro perspective: sports professionals, cricket in particular have a very limited window of opportunity, after years and years of toil and training through their late teens and early twenties. If luck and continuous high levels of performance garners a stake in the National Cricket Team, well and good! Here again they have to attain and maintain their A1 level physical fitness, mental strength through their respective careers which may last 5 to 7 years or in exceptional circumstances, perhaps 8-12 years. Anything more is a rarity in today’s intense competitive environment where these sportsmen have to stick to a myriad other factors, diet, physical fitness, deep focus, mental preparation above all consistent performance by way of higher than average results; average performance means you are chopped! That’s it. 

Perhaps, batting sensations like our Sanga or Indian legends such as Tendulkar or Kholi did muster batting averages of above 50%. Only a batting genius like Sir Don Bradman could have attained higher: a mind blowing 99% batting average!

Let us therefore, not begrudge the emoluments that sports professionals, cricketers especially, receive. After all, their earning capacity is only for a very limited period of time.

It was therefore, totally ‘not cricket’ to make public the emoluments that our cricketers and administrators are contracted to receive.

Insults and abuse under cover of parliamentary privilege

Later RR made it routine to hurl insults and abuse at Shammi and team Cricket SL under protective cover of parliamentary privilege! Yet the damage was done, severely and irreparably. SLC was portrayed globally as a shameful den of thieves! These pathetic public accusations only made things worse to make an understatement, and made the sitting Sports Minister vulnerable to be removed. RR allegedly bypassed the Cabinet Subcommittee appointed specifically on cricket and allegedly had surreptitiously approached the BCCI (ref Daily FT 28 Nov). Hence, this act of removal was only inevitable in the context of what RR had done wittingly or unwittingly to the image of SLC, its players and its very core.

It’s a fact that during RR’s tenure as Sports Minister the world governing bodies of Rugby, Athletics, Football and now Cricket suspended SL from such sports. Not a record to be proud of, isn’t it?

The Chitrasiri Commission Report that was inexplicably placed in mothballs following the legally drafted petition by sane, balanced, untainted cricket legends of the past needs to be adopted if SLC prevents people with vested interests clambering aboard the governing body. It is an open secret that a plethora of minor insignificant clubs that have a vote each are being exploited (some say ‘bribed’) to vote for the person with the right connections or financial muscle! SLC has therefore been taken over lock, stock and barrel by personalities not necessarily famed for their cricketing stock or business acumen or top proven leaders in their respective professional careers in SL or overseas.

Global standards need to be introduced

Hopefully, SLC can be rejuvenated from bottom to top and vice versa and an absolute culture of unimpeachable meritocracy introduced with global standards of every sphere germane to cricket associated with top cricketing nations such as Australia, New Zealand, etc.

A Cricket Academy fulfilling all aspects of SLC must be initiated as mentioned by this writer in an earlier article published in the Daily FT 4 November 2023.

For the present let’s not pathetically attempt to gain brownie political points on the SLC now almost brought to its knees or more precisely to its death knell.

SLC must be rejuvenated sans petty squabbles that mar it day in day out. Let’s therefore leave these murky episodes behind and focus our energies towards revamping SLC from the school level, Under 19, top quality First Class cricket structure, Under 23, A teams and of course an elite pool for Tests, ODI and T20 Cricket.

While all round attention via physical fitness, diets, etc are vital it’s also essential that SLC grounds have well prepared cricket pitches perhaps with international standards being replicated, so that the slow turning squares would be replaced with fast bouncy tracks like in Australia, South Africa and now even India. Surely, if Indian cricket can prepare such pitches ideal for pacemen why can’t SL? 

Last but not least, let us wholeheartedly wish our youthful new Sports Minister (he is no stranger to this demanding role; proven to be dynamic, effective and capable) Harin Fernando all success in lifting SLC from the pits and steering it to glory that SLC deserves.

Sri Lanka Cricket Board Chairman Shammi Silva with his Ex-Co when he assumed duties – File photo