Sri Lankans go to the wrong party

Team manager’s New Zealand tour report to clean-sheet ‘misbehaving’ players as Minister Jayasekera waits to learn he jumped the gun:

by Callistus Davy

Sri Lanka’s cricketers may find it easy to laugh off accusations of all-night partying, but failing to comprehensively take on their host on the field of play on the concluded tour of New Zealand will be another kind of revelry they’ll find hard to answer for while their manager prepares to submit his report and an audacious Sports Minister waits to learn if he was right or wrong in branding the players “scandalous” in conduct.

Contrary to Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera’s accusation that the cricketers misbehaved, the customary Report of the team manager is unlikely to contain any references to players partying at late night frolics, the Sunday Observer learns.

“There was scandalous behavior. They (players) have not only attended drinking parties till three and four (am) in the morning, but there was a lot of tension and friction among members.

My main concern is the breakdown in discipline. When that is affected the team naturally performs badly”, Minister Jayasekera told the media early this week as the team returned after a pummelling in the Test, ODI and T20 series.

But team manager Gerry Woutersz facing his first media barrage was tight-lipped with a firm declaration that his Report will not lie.

“I will submit my report”, Woutersz said apparently avoiding any public confrontation with Minister Jayasekera.

The Sunday Observer learns that apart from the usual dinners that players attended, Woutersz’ tour report will have no recorded cases of team members violating disciplinary requirements to the point that Minister Jayasekera had made out. For coach Jerome Jayaratne, unpreparedness and not partying, will be the reason why his team failed to match up to the Kiwis who won seven of the eight contests in all three formats of the game during the series.

“Some players (on tour) were not established. We have to discuss this with the (team) selectors on how to build a team and move forward from here”, said Jayaratne.

Unlike on previous tours of New Zealand, the Sri Lankan team, according to Jayaratne, had seen a devastating difference between them and the host players who revelled in every aspect and never looked out of place.

“We might have to look at other players (in Sri Lanka)”, said Jayaratne. “Players must first learn to finish (win) a match at club level and be prepared before they can do it at international level”, said Jayaratne. He may go back to his post as coach of the National Academy or take the players to the T20 World Cup in India in March, but very few glasses will be raised to toast the Sri Lanka team when they move in to defend the title, a less glamorous side from the celebratory one two years ago.