Online edition of Sunday Observer

If the current trend of events are a yardstick to go by, then the battle for the post of President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, should turn out to be a 'one horse' race, with Thilanga Sumathipala, President on two earlier occasions, holding the whip hand over former Sri Lanka captain, now turned politician Arjuna Ranatunga.

Thilanga Sumathipala (left) tipped to be the next Cricket Board President with Aravinda de Silva who will be uncontested as a Vice-President at the election.

A tall order for cricketer turned politician Arjuna Ranatunga at Cricket Board elections.
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When nominations closed for the Cricket Board elections last Tuesday, there were only two names for the post of President - Thilanga Sumathipala and Arjuna Ranatunga. The elections will be held on June 6.

What makes Thilanga Sumathipala a clear favourite for the top post in the administration of cricket in the country is the fact that he has got a team of officials already to work together for the benefit of cricket..

Unlike Sumathipala, former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga, with all his exploits on the field here and abroad, with a World Cup victory in 1996 in Pakistan to boost him, has been unable to get up a team to back him up to offer any serious challenge to Sumathipala. In fact, when nominations closed, there was not a single candidate from Ranatunga's camp for any of the other posts in the Cricket Board.

Cricket is a team game and elections, too, is a team game. So, it is difficult to figure as to how Ranatunga is going to handle the affairs of the Cricket Board should he create the biggest upset at Cricket Board elections and win.

In an obvious effort to boost his morale, Arjuna Ranatunga has said that there are many former and present Sri Lanka players, officials and coaches who have expressed their desire to support him. We will have to wait and see as to what extent the support will be.

An interesting member of Sumathipala's team is undoubtedly Aravinda de Silva who was in Ranatunga's World Cup winning team in 1996.

Asked how he happened to be on Sumathipala's side for the all important election, de Silva said: "Arjuna Ranatunga is a good cricketer, but Thilanga Sumathipala is a better administrator." As everyone knows, Thilanga Sumathipala is the Asian Cricket Council boss and also Chairman, Sri Lanka Telecom and his administrative capabilities are only too well known and needs no repetition.

He said that his first concern will be to put the house in order and be accountable and be transparent to all. There is money in the Cricket Board and the 18 million people in the country have the right to know how the money is spent. Within three months of being elected, a special general meeting will be called and the future plans and budget will be put to the house for approval.

No sooner he and his team takes over, one of the first acts will be to look at the national team. "In the first three months this will be done. I am not happy at the way things are going on with the team. Soon a coach of international standing will be got and a physiotherapist too.

We will bring the national team to a different level to be competitive with the rest of the world," Sumathipala said. Reorganising the Cricket Board will not be such a difficult task for Sumathipala with all his experience behind him. He said that there are five areas where the BCCSL will be divided - International Cricket, Domestic Cricket, Infrastructure Development, Administrative Strategies and Financial Plan. People with knowledge will be brought into these areas.

There will be a major national plan for cricket. "When we left we had a plan for the development of Asian cricket. We must encourage Test series on home and away basis because then we will be able to gauge where we really stand," Sumathipala added.

The Cricket boss said that one of their priorities will be to look deep into the domestic cricket scene and he was happy that Aravinda de Silva who has just retired, has consented to look after that area. Sri Lanka don't have cricket academies like other countries, the schools are our academies. The Cricket Board intends to sustain them and even provide bio-mechanics to see the progress of the cricketers.

It is the intention to have more than one floodlit stadium for cricket. Right now, there is only the Premadasa Stadium and another stadium will also bring in revenue. It is also hoped to have mobile lighting system, so that lights can be shifted from ground to ground.

Speaking about his opponent Arjuna Ranatunga, Sumathipala said that Arjuna has the right to contest if he is genuine. My feeling is clear- If Arjuna wants to serve cricket, he is welcome to join me and serve in a technical area," said Thilanga Sumathipala.

Sumathipala's team" All Uncontested - Aravinda de Silva and A. J. M. Muzammil (two Vice Presidents), Mohan de Silva (Secretary), Lal Nanayakkara (Treasurer), Trevor Rajaratnam (Asst. Secretary), Lucien Merinnage (Asst. Treasurer). Lal Nanayakkara is Chairman of People's Bank, Lucien Merinnage is an businessman and entrepreneur who has been associated with cricket for over 50 years.

Aravinda de Silva, who as Vice President will be in charge of domestic cricket, said that in the immediate past there was not enough emphasis laid on fitness and said that on some occasions even before practices, no warm-up exercises were done.

"Fitness is important and it should be a priority in present day cricket," said Aravinda de Silva. He said that young cricketers must be given enough exposure in domestic cricket. There may be some cricketers who do not perform well for many matches, but that does not mean they should be discarded, they should be persisted with and they are bound to come good. He said that he was much impressed with Sri Lanka's young cricketer Kaushal Lokuarachchi who showed us all that he (Lokuarachchi) is a budding allrounder - there's batting, bowling and fielding in him. He is a tough young boy and these are the cricketers we have to look for.

Aravinda de Silva said that Sri Lanka should try and beat Australia in Australia in the next couple of years.

"This should be a feat that the team should aim at. It could not be done during my time, but this should be a goal that the Lankan cricketers should have," he said. He said that junior cricketers have to be looked after carefully. There are some junior cricketers who train, but they don't play cricket for over four months. Cricket must be played.

Then the 'A' team and under 19 team must have regular tours and then the young cricketers can be kept occupied and they will be prepared to serve the senior team soon. There are many youngsters - they must be guided on the correct path and then they will be able to come to the national team:

The star Batsman Aravinda de Silva said that Sri Lanka has plenty of talent and what should be done is to nurse the talent. "We got a pretty young national side with lot of experience. If for example, we want Muralitharan for another four years, we got to have support service by way of another bowler," was Aravinda's opinion.