Ministry of Sports sees a Royal-Thomian duo at the wicket

All sports fans and the sports world here welcome with great expectations the appointment of Navin Dissanayake, the eldest son of the famous Gamini as Minister of Sport and Wasantha Senanayake son of Ranjit from a famous clan as Deputy.

Hailing from Royal College, Navin is an Attorney-at-Law like his illustrious father and mother, and carries the portfolio of Minister of Tourism as well. Senanayake is an Old Thomian. He has been a good swimmer and chess player.

Both are young and will have the energy and enthusiasm. Wasantha being a swimmer can, among his priorities, resuscitate swimming which has virtually run out of gone breath, and Navin can follow his father's footsteps and bring respectability to the governance of Cricket. The two young Ministers bring with them that breath of fresh air which has been sadly lacking in the Sports Ministry.

Gargantuan task

Navin and Wasantha will have a gargantuan task of sorting out the mess in sport. With another Old Royalist and Minister of Media Gayantha Karuntilleke allowing us journalists to comment and expose without any fear or favour we can now breathe free not having to be hauled up and asked to explain for writing the truth.

As responsible journalists being constructive in our writing and playing a straight bat was mistaken as disloyalty. Young and less seasoned journalists were over-cautious to write what they felt for fear of their jobs.

There was a golden era when Editors and Chairmen stood by their writers and Chairmen never stepped on the corns of journalists or poked their fingers into Editorial work. Editors were given the freedom that was their right.

The young duo who hail from illustrious pedigree and lineage will be hailed and be helped by all frustrated sportsmen, women and former officials who were penalised for not falling in line and bowing to their masters.

Unenviable job

The mess in sport is such that Navin and Wasantha will have an unenviable job to perform. Sports people must bear with them because they are also human and cannot work miracles overnight.

Corruption was viral in the Ministry of Sport. Navin and Wasantha will surely come across many a scandal. But foremost will be the need to streamline the administration and bring sound governance into the equation. There is no doubt that there are also committed people at the Ministry who will be help this process once political henchmen are removed.

Gamini Dissanayake who hailed from Kandy had all support coming from sporting personalities and benefactors such as Dr. C.D.L. Fernando, E.W. Balasuriya, Z.M. Jauffer, Harindra Dunuwille, Enver and Hafiz Marikar.

It was Hafiz who proposed Gamini for President of the Cricket Board from Kandy District Cricket Association and accompanied Gamini to the AGM. Gamini in appreciation introduced Hafiz into the world of Liaison Officers for visiting teams.

Topic of discussion

The topic of discussion where ever cricket fans or sports fans gather is about the 2015 World Cup to be co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia beginning in the second week of February.

Who will win the World Cup the blue riband of one-day cricket? Who will be the Most Valuable Player? Who will take a hat-trick? Who will be the Most Eye-Catching batsman and several other queries will be wagered on.

Billions of cricket fans the world over will be tuned on to the radios, TV sets and newspapers will also enjoy a rise in sales during the tournament from February 14 till the end of March.

Record breakers

The 'DAILY NEWS' of Tuesday, January 20 featured an article from the ICC captioned - Record breakers on display at CWC '15 - and among them were Abraham de Villiers (South Africa), Corey Anderson (New Zealand), Sahid Afridi (Pakistan), Kevin O'Brien (Ireland), Virat Kohli (India), James Faulkner (Australia), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Chris Gayle (West Indies), David Warner (Australia) and Rohit Sharma (India).

Batsmen of the highest class and able to hit the covers off the ball when they get going in the one-day game today, they are expected to provide the batting fireworks and torment the bowlers and fielders and provide enjoyment to the cricket fans at the various venues.

But what is a bit upsetting is the absence of a Sri Lankan batsman's name in that galaxy of names. Not only Sri Lanka it is also sad to note that no England batsman has also earned recognition among the 10 greats. One Sri Lankan batsman who the limited-over game cannot forget is that 'Matara Mauler' Sanath Teran Jayasuriya who blitzed and hit to smithereens every opposing attack in the1995/'96 World Cup co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Jayasuriya's terrific efforts

Jayasuriya's terrific efforts with the bat went a long way in helping Sri Lanka win the Cup and engrave the country's name on the trophy for posterity. The only one who could have done another Jayasuriya was his clone Kushal Janith Perera, but sadly he is not even in the squad.

As for England who have yet to lay their hands on the trophy since its inception the man who could have blazed away was new Captain Eoin Morgan but sadly he has not been consistent and could not find a slot among the record breakers. How England must be hoping for another Ian Botham.

De Villiers who heads the list of record breakers is in sparkling form at the moment making mincemeat of the West Indies attack in the on-going one-day series in South Africa. The South Africans who challenging strongly for that elusive trophy that they have never won are hoping that De Villiers has not peaked too early.

Fastest ever century

De Villiers is the Captain and if he can take this form to the World Cup he will be the draw and a match and trophy winner. He sprayed the Windies bowlers where ever he wished and sent his home supporters into raptures bashing the fastest ever century in limited-over cricket.

Against the West Indies the other day he set up a word record slamming a three figure score in just, believe it or not, 31 balls - five balls fewer than the previous record - on his way to an amazing 149 off 44 balls.

His 50 came off 16 balls, one less than Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya's previous record for the fastest 50 which was made against Pakistan in 1995/96 and later De Villiers went past New Zealand's Corey Anderson's record for the fastest century. De Villiers hit 16 sixes and 9 fours.

By the way enjoy life now. It has an expiry date on it.

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