Can the SLC afford to bear the cost?

Sri Lanka Cricket is broke. It has no money to paythe staff, the cricketers, suppliers they are also reducing staff to make ends meet. And now they have decided to add an additional player to the squad.

That also costs money. And a lot. The additional player is Thilan Samaraweera comes in the wake of Mahela Jayawardena nursing a knee injury. Apparently there's no danger of him missing out on the tour. But the selectors had asked for Samaraweera as cover.

Jayawardena is the one committed player in the squad who will give his all for game and country. He did well in skipping the final one-day game and the Twenty20 against Pakistan and flying back home to give his troublesome knee the rest it requires and to recuperate.

On the subject of the SLC, there is urgent need for its finances to be put right through a major reorganisation of not only the structure but also the manner in which the financial planning, controls and business dynamics are handled. To have a premier sports body reduced to bankruptcy will do great damage to the image of Sri Lanka. It will also raise questions in the minds of international cricket organizations of our ability to run a viable and sustainable enterprise. In addition, the confidence of our cricketers themselves will be affected.

Sports Minister bats

In the wake of this comes the news that Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had called a meeting with the senior players, Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Committee and administrators to discuss how the national cricket squad can be strengthened, sighting the drawbacks faced by the team in foreign tournaments starting with the England, Australian and recently the Pakistan tour in the desert.

Apparently the main reason cited for the poor showing has been the miscommunication between the team, the selectors and the coaches. Apparently the coaches, the players and the captain have been working in compartments.

Now this is unacceptable. Unless all play as a team, there is no way that success could come their way. To keep losing will mean to lose the support of their millions of cricket crazy fans and sponsors.

Inexplicable

Now this is inexplicable. How come that if this was so that it was not first detected during the tour of England? Did we have to wait for the defeats against Australia and the bashing by the Pakistanis to realize this shortcoming?

But anyway it is better late than never. So we hope that the differences that exist in whatever quarters is forgot and the Lankan cricketers will front up to the formidable South Africans in South Africa and come out with a better display and resurrect our game which is at the moment in lost land.

To avoid humiliation in South Africa we need a new and reinforcing team spirit and that will not come by simply wishing it, but rather through special team building exercises and counselling.

Geoff in a marsh

This also requires that undivided attention of coach Geoff Marsh. We understand that he is more interested in getting hold of a notebook computer and watching his son in action in South Africa and not concentrating and advising his charges what they were doing wrong in desert land and tumbling to defeat after defeat.

Coach Marsh has to get his priorities right. The first priority should be to put right the Sri Lanka cricketers and their performances.

Sri Lanka Cricket is paying him big money to use his experience as a former player and successful coach and resurrect our game that is grasping for survival after repeated defeats in the international scene.

Aussies and Kiwis at play

From the moment that former Australian skipper Greg Chappell got his younger brother Trevor to send down an underarm ball in a one-day game against New Zealand, the clashes between these two countries in any field of sport has been nothing short of war.

When this column is being read, Australia and New Zealand will be playing another absurd Two Test series and the two games will be contested with no quarter asked or given.

For the first time the Australians will be having ten debutants, because their top stars are all nursing injuries. Apparently the Kiwis will be cock a hoop. But the Australians playing at home will not be an easy nut to crack.

Repercussions

The repercussions of that underarm bowl, nearly sent the two countries to war. But the scars still remain and those watching the action unfold on TV will notice the agro between the two teams.

When Trevor, a dear friend of Betram Jayasuriya who introduced the 'catch it' fielding machine to the game was here on a coaching assignment , I had the opportunity of meeting Trevor and discussing that famous underarm ball. 'It was in the rules and we bowled to the rule', said Trevor with a twinkle in his eye. Subsequently the ICC deleted that rule from their books.

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