Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Hashan Tillekaratne in a hard-hitting statement against the current administration of the sport, if there was one, charged that senior members in the team were at work and that it was extremly difficult for aspiring players to make it to the national team. His remarks came a day after Sri Lanka screwed up a possible chance of beating world champions India in the country’s inaugural Twenty-20 match and delving further into the tragedy audaciously called the selectors “incompetent individuals, masquerading as selectors”, wanted coach Trevor Bayliss kicked out while holding sports minister Gamini Lokuge responsible for the mess.
All those who value fair-play and seek justice must be ever willing to take their hats off to Tillekaratne for coming out boldly to speak out against the establishment. He may have his reasons for speaking out but Tillekaratne is the only player from that crack team which lifted the World Cup in 1996 to become the voice of the oppressed and accuse senior members of the team, some of whom played with him, for working against the interests of those who are craving for a place from the outside.
Tillekaratne to this day remains an untainted cricketer and this should be the very reason why the powers that be call for a thorough and independent probe on what is purportedly taking place in the team. As captain Tillekaratne had no character black marks against his name and his human side was there for everyone to see when he headed Sri Lanka Cricket’s Cricket Aid humanitarian project to foster tsunami orphans sometimes braving bombs and bullets to drive in the dead of night to reach his destination in the war-zones.
But even for there to be a probe the question of who runs cricket is foremost. Is it Lokuge or his secretary S. Liyanagama who makes a puppet-like appearance at press conferences or some surviving ex-players in the board who have mastered the art of survival no matter who gets in there?If Lokuge as the so-called minister of sports minister cannot investigate Tillekaratne’s charges, he has three options before him. He could either conduct an election so clubs can install people whom they can trust to administer the welfare of their players or appoint a board of directors to run cricket taking in the likes of Ana Punchihewa and S. Skandakumar of they are willing. If he dislikes doing either of the two, Lokuge could then choose Thilanga Sumathipala or Jayantha Dharmadasa to head another interim committee devoid of politics. For it was not these two men who ran cricket to what it is today but ex-players in the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Guy de Alwis, Sidat Wettimuny, Ashantha de Mel and Duleep Mendis to name a few who were around when the last administration was sacked.
To leave the game’s administration in the hands of bureaucrats would be the death knell for cricket in this country and men in the mould of Hashan Tillekaratne may continue to be like the Biblical “voice in the wilderness”.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=40664
All those who value fair-play and seek justice must be ever willing to take their hats off to Tillekaratne for coming out boldly to speak out against the establishment. He may have his reasons for speaking out but Tillekaratne is the only player from that crack team which lifted the World Cup in 1996 to become the voice of the oppressed and accuse senior members of the team, some of whom played with him, for working against the interests of those who are craving for a place from the outside.
Tillekaratne to this day remains an untainted cricketer and this should be the very reason why the powers that be call for a thorough and independent probe on what is purportedly taking place in the team. As captain Tillekaratne had no character black marks against his name and his human side was there for everyone to see when he headed Sri Lanka Cricket’s Cricket Aid humanitarian project to foster tsunami orphans sometimes braving bombs and bullets to drive in the dead of night to reach his destination in the war-zones.
But even for there to be a probe the question of who runs cricket is foremost. Is it Lokuge or his secretary S. Liyanagama who makes a puppet-like appearance at press conferences or some surviving ex-players in the board who have mastered the art of survival no matter who gets in there?If Lokuge as the so-called minister of sports minister cannot investigate Tillekaratne’s charges, he has three options before him. He could either conduct an election so clubs can install people whom they can trust to administer the welfare of their players or appoint a board of directors to run cricket taking in the likes of Ana Punchihewa and S. Skandakumar of they are willing. If he dislikes doing either of the two, Lokuge could then choose Thilanga Sumathipala or Jayantha Dharmadasa to head another interim committee devoid of politics. For it was not these two men who ran cricket to what it is today but ex-players in the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Guy de Alwis, Sidat Wettimuny, Ashantha de Mel and Duleep Mendis to name a few who were around when the last administration was sacked.
To leave the game’s administration in the hands of bureaucrats would be the death knell for cricket in this country and men in the mould of Hashan Tillekaratne may continue to be like the Biblical “voice in the wilderness”.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=40664
