Angelo Perera and Bhanuka Rajapaksa

• Onus on clubs to play retiring players in domestic competitions

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

With Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) taking the stance that retired players from international cricket who intend playing franchise cricket should play at least 80 percent of domestic cricket to be eligible for a No Objection Certificate (NOC), there is another school of thought that asks, if the players are not available to play for the country whether they should be selected to play in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) or for that matter their respective club teams.

This belief springs from the fact that if a player has retired from international cricket, which means he is no longer available for national selection, then why not give that place to a youngster who could make use of the opportunity to go and play for his country?

The SLC has to draw a fine line in determining whether a retired player should be considered for selection for local tournaments like the LPL and the Major inter-club and National Super League tournaments.

The LPL for instance is played to give young players to showcase their talent and to those who could go and play for the country. There is no purpose in giving opportunities to retired cricketers to come and play in the LPL and block the opportunity of a youngster.

If you take the recently concluded LPL, there were several unknown players who played in the franchise teams because they had certain connections with franchise owners, which in fact deprived a place for a deserving cricketer to get into the squad. When that happens will that player not get disheartened?

One could argue that in the IPL for instance, retired players like MS Dhoni are given a place in the Chennai Super Kings side. That is to add glamour to the tournament and a man of Dhoni’s stature can pass on his experience and knowledge to the rest of the team. If a top class Sri Lankan cricketer retires from international cricket you can always accommodate him because a youngster can learn a lot from him, but not players who have made only a handful of international appearances for the country.

Even for the LPL, retired cricketers are picked from overseas to add glamour to the system, but when one selects the local cricketers for the tournament it must be ensured that those eligible for national selection are given priority over others.

The onus is on the respective clubs whether they want to play a retired cricketer. SLC cannot tell the clubs whom they should pick, that matter rests entirely with the respective clubs.

SLC started to get cold feet when national cricketers Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Angelo Perera announced that they were retiring from international cricket and would no longer be available for selection. These players have shown intentions to play franchise cricket outside the country. They were followed by Danushka Gunathilaka retiring from Test cricket to concentrate on white-ball cricket.

Last year saw four Sri Lankan giants of white-ball cricket, Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera, Upul Tharanga and Isuru Udana, retiring from international cricket. With the exception of Malinga, the other three are all playing franchise cricket around the world. 

This new trend has got SLC acting swiftly to stem the flow, lest they be faced with a situation in front of them where there is a dearth of top class players to represent the country.

Also, SLC invests in cricketers heavily, grooming them to play for the country and once they make it to the top or make a name for themselves, they suddenly decide to retire from international cricket. Is that fair? All what SLC, the national selectors and coaches have done for the player becomes a waste. 

That is why SLC has decided that any player wanting to retire from international cricket should give a prior three months retirement notice, so that he would not be considered for national selection and allow the national selectors enough time to identify another player to be groomed in his place.

At the end of the day what matters is Sri Lankan cricket.

SLC acts swiftly to curb exodus of national cricketers