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| Sunday, 9 January 2005 |
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Putting cricket tour on hold - a sensible move Straight talk by Lal Gunsekera Any Dick, Tom and Harry would have known that the Sri Lanka cricketers touring New Zealand when the Tsunami disaster struck their motherland on Boxing Day would not have been in a proper frame of mind, leave alone play cricket. They had watched the horror scenes of the damage and loss of life back home on their TV screens and read all about the calamity in newspaper reports. They too are human - not supermen, but Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) thought otherwise. The Lankans had already played their first One-Day International which they lost badly. They made a plea to the tour management that they wanted to return home immediately. The tour management in turn got in touch with SLC, whose President Mohan de Silva, after an emergency meeting decided that the tour should go on. Perhaps they (the SLC) feared that the International Cricket Council (ICC) will slap a heavy fine on SLC if the tour was aborted. It was humanly impossible for the cricketers to continue with the rest of the tour, not knowing what their families back home in Sri Lanka were undergoing after the Tsunami struck the island. It was the duty of SLC to have got in touch with the ICC and explain the situation. I am certain that the ICC would have agreed together with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to postpone the tour and permit the Sri Lanka cricketers to return home. This was exactly what transpired a few days later, although NZC was reluctant at first to agree. The tour was postponed with both Boards (SLC and NZC) agreeing and the balance four One-Day Internationals and two Tests will take place before the next 18 months. There was no penalty levied by the ICC. Why didn't SLC discuss the matter of a postponement with the ICC when the cricketers first made their request to the team management? Does SLC think that dollars are more important than human lives. Anyway, the Sri Lanka cricketers arrived home on January 1 morning and immediately got down to relief operations and making inquiries of friends and relations where the Tsunami had struck. SLC too announced a "Disaster Assistance Programme" undertaken for victims of the Tsunami calamity of Boxing Day. All's well that ends well! Cricket controversy in Jaffna Up in the northern peninsula, there is a Jaffna District Cricket Association (JDCA) as well as a Jaffna Cricket Umpires Association (JCUA) who are now embroiled in a controversy. The annual general meeting of the JDCA has not been held since February 2002, though its constitution states clearly that it should be held before February 28 each year. I understand that repeated requests to conduct its annual general meeting has fallen on deaf ears. The Chief Executive SLC, Duleep Mendis, and even the Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, S. Ranugge, has been informed by concerned parties. There is also an allegation that umpires have not been assigned for the smooth running of the only 50-over tournament in the North for clubs held in memory of Donald Ganeshakumar. This has been conducted since 1990 and umpires were provided by JCUA before and after the JDCA was revived in 1997. Umpires were also not assigned for some tournament matches at Kokuvil and Skandavarodaya and also for a game at the University grounds. Karatekas in the lurch Sixty odd karatekas from the Sri Lanka Karate-Do Federation which is registered with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, were left in the lurch recently. They were requested to turn up at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium for registration in view of training for the South Asian Games scheduled to take place in August in Sri Lanka. But when they did turn up, they were surprised to find that the venue was already booked for a coaching camp organised by the treasurer of this same organisation (SLKF) with a Japanese karateka in attendance. This official had booked the venue on an official letter head of the SLKF itself. Strange is it not? This letter is available with the Indoor Stadium authorities. Perhaps private training was more important to this individual than the registration and training for the Games. I also understand that the former President of this body, had issued 'black belts' to about 700 karatekas on the payment of Rs. 1000 each (sic) and also the accounts of a felicitation ceremony has yet to be presented and approved. This happened when this official held the post of President in 2002-03. Also, four coaches have been appointed to train our karatekas for the Games, which includes one who has not even won a single medal for the country. One person who is highly qualified to be a coach and whose students have won several gold medals at various tournaments in the country, has been left out. Is this deliberate? Now a new karate body has been formed and are to seek registration from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. An impartial inquiry should be held. There are too many Karate bodies in this country, but why they cannot get together and form one organisation and work together for the development of this ancient martial art, I cannot understand why? Too many cooks spoil the soup, so the saying goes. Coach goes 'wonky' Does the coach of the Sri Lanka under-19 cricket team who were to tour Pakistan (it has now been postponed due to the Tsunami disaster) take media personnel for a joke. Having consented for an interview after numerous calls, he had the cheek to get a third party to hurl insults at the media. It was the media that stood by this individual when he was not picked to play even one game for the country despite his batting potential. He seems to be another sportsman to "lose his head." |
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