If elections are held I'll be back and change face of SL Cricket - Thilanga

By Srian OBEYESEKERE

CRICKET: Coming back out of the 'wilderness' through arguably forced exile of being kept out of the Cricket Board by detractors who fear they can't beat the man at the hustings, is the cherished dream of Thilanga Sumathipala, who strongly believes that he must rightfully be where he belongs to finish an unfinished dream.

Indeed, the man, who is roundly credited by observers, both at home and abroad for his gigantic feat of giving the Dambulla Stadium to the game, burns with a passion whenever talk buzzes centering around the hustings at the Cricket Board or Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) which has been near and dear to his heart - even the man's worst critics will not deny the man's magic like capability of getting things done.

These tall stories include the hiring of Australian John Dyson as national coach in 2003 when there was no coach when he assumed office to the relief of the local cricketing world that had been left groping in the dark without a coach after Dave Whatmore's departure.

But if passion has fashioned Sumathipala's works in serving what has undeniably been his first love away from business which is cricket, and won many accolades - ask Tony Greig - he is credited to have been the think tank behind the initial foreign expertise drive even when he was only Vice President in 1995.

Today, Sumathipala, who has fought many court battles and cleared his names of corruption charges when he headed the Board, remains a disgusted man. He believes that justice has not been done to him by successive sports ministers, having the Cricket Board run by Interim Committees which the man has bitterly claimed has been done to keep him out.

No surprise

It's no surprise then that Thilanga Sumathipala welcomes the recent news reports, first by the Sunday Observer, filtering of Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge's intention to hold elections at the Cricket Board, at a time elections to the country's premier sport body looked a remote thing. He cannot really believe it will ever happen. But, if it is true, then it is the most stirring news that once again rekindles the passion in the man's eyes and face as the immaculately clad dynamic figure, who has a Muhammed Ali like boast of predicting, echoes with certain conviction that if people to run the board are chosen democratically by the vote of the clubs that then, he has no rival. The Sports Minister confirmed that the AGM will be held shortly.

Flanked by his able lieutenant Mohan de Silva, who once stood in from the Sumathipala camp when the man was barred from contesting, backs his stakes for a comeback to the Board in the following words," We know what's important and what needs to be done to resurrect SL Cricket at this stage and without hesitation can say that we have the passion, ability, capacity and most importantly, people with the right credentials to administer cricket.

The duo also went on to claim that if the Sumathipala administration was in power, Sri Lanka would not have allowed India to play IPL alone, but instead got India to join Pakistan and Bangladesh with Sri Lanka so that all concerned from players to coaches down the line would have benefited.

Indeed, the Sumathipala dynamism of contesting and winning that had become a habit with the man before law suits were thrown at him, has no match going by the immense popularity he commands with the clubs that matter.

"Hold the AGM anytime, I know I will win over whoever contests by fair means of electing office-bearers democratically," has been a popular Sumathipala catch phrase.

His main detractors, Sumathipala claims, have been the Dharmadasa brothers including Jayantha, who, when he was Interim Committee Chairman, did his utmost to destabilise the district and provincial associations by not funding these pivotal feeding areas, except for the Southern District Cricket Association and Southern Provincial Cricket Association knowing, that was where our strength lay." These feeders to the 'A' team and national team were completely crippled without a single tour for the 'A' team when we took over in 2003, he claimed. We had secured 7 tours, home and away for the next 3 years for the 'A' team with some of the strongest cricket playing countries when we were in power. All that good work had been undone with so many golden opportunities lost.

An election

And as he quietly anticipates an election with crossed fingers, Sumathipala is ever willing to share his thoughts as to the state of the Cricket Board then and now. He is ever willing to come back for the greater good of the game to change the face of what he calls a collapsing administration that lacks the professional skill to either make Sri Lanka cricket financially viable, as he did when he turned a bankrupt board in 2003 into a 70 million dollar overflowing success by 2005 when he left office. He can also handle the national team, protecting the players as well as the board's rights such as the present player impasse over the IPL and England tour participation to ensuring that the team stays up the ladder in team rankings.

During our time we could not support schools' cricket as much as we would have liked, because of financial problems. But we supported that sector with materials, grounds and infrastructure development.

Our business plan in fact, included development of junior cricket starting from U-13 to U-15, U-17 to U-19 where inter-district and intra-district tournaments were conducted and talent identified and squads formed and Inter-Provincial and Intra-Provincial Tournaments conducted ending up at national level.

This enabled all above 19 who were outstanding from among handicapped players from rural areas to win scholarships to the cricket academy, Sumathipala said.

Further he said that in 1998, the first ever head office was provided to Sri Lanka Cricket Association to conduct their affairs by me (Thilanga Sumathipala).

Back seat in development

Sumathipala and Mohan de Silva both lament in unison that it is a pity that although the team is doing well and maintaining success at international level, we have gone back development-wise during the last few years due to ironically the very thing he was accused of - financial bungling that had reached its lowest depths during the Jayantha Dharmadasa administration, running into millions - 'that has undone our good work' he said.

Unfortunately, everytime we secured fruitful broadcasting rights contract, our regime was suspended and Interim Committees brought in. So, we had to go to courts, clear our names and comeback. Even with all those difficulties and impediments that tarnished the country's image abroad to the extent that we had difficulty in getting people to market our broadcasting rights under a 4-year programme, we were able to develop a 5-year business plan, which is the backbone to being financially viable, in 2003 by marketing our broadcasting rights. That, we did after the Nimbus contract was terminated by the Vijaya Malalasekera Interim Committee.

To win back our good name in the international market, we had to in fact, re-brand Sri Lanka Cricket by changing the name from Board of Control for Cricket to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). When we assumed office in 2003, we didn't even have a coach. In two weeks we got John Dyson and built up the team which gathered fruit with Sri Lanka becoming No. 2 in ODIs and 4th in Test rankings," Sumathipala said.

At the beginning of the year when we submitted our budgets, we knew we would incur a Rs. 200 million loss. Don't forget, we never had World Cup monies coming in. We were confronted with law suits, legal claims for wrongful termination of a contract etc. The year 2004 was a bad year.

There were mostly outbound tours which does not generate much income. But with the support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) we were able to secure additional tours apart from the ICC Future Tour Programme and go to the market with a total package and market our Broadcasting Rights professionally, which netted in an hitherto unprecedented amount of 52 Million US $," added Sumathipala.

He claims that when he was suspended and people, who could not come through the democratic process brought in, he and his administration had in fact, put the cricket board on its feet financially, and as well, the success of the cricket team. The investigation against his administration found that the charges were bogus corruption charges and the report was swept under the carpet and the perpetrators were allowed to continue in office.

Twenty20 cricket to stay

Sumathipala and De Silva, touching on the current player-SLC impasse, both strongly believe that 'we must understand that Twenty/20 cricket, whatever said and done, has come to stay.

Therefore, we must in future be conscious of the importance of safeguarding the spirit of the game when planning our tours and strike a balance when commercial avenues are pursued. It is sad to note that the administration and players are at loggerheads on several issues.

We are of the view that cricketers have an obligation to represent the country as a priority, but at the same time, whatever avenues that are presented to the players from which they could benefit, they should not be denied those opportunities.

One cannot overlook the fact that national players are professionals who have acquired their positions sacrificing their valuable time, effort and energy and through sheer hard work to reach this level. Therefore, players have to be treated with more respect and dignity.

Sumathipala has kept waiting and keeps waiting in vain hope. You can't keep a good man down forever.

Musical chairs of Dharamadasa brothers - one threw out Ana Punchihewa after winning the World Cup other one remanded me (Sumathipala) by political influence and came from the rear entrance as Chairman of the Interim Committee.

Unless you keep these two away, you will never be able to stop politicising of Cricket in Sri Lanka," he claimed.

Meanwhile, Jayantha Dharmadasa, when asked for his comments, said that to his knowledge no AGM is scheduled to be held.