This simply isn’t cricket

by Rex Clementine

Cricket is in shambles. The national cricket team has just returned home after our worst World Cup campaign. This is the first time that Sri Lanka has lost World Cup games to Afghanistan and Bangladesh. A ninth-place finish has knocked us out of the Champions Trophy. This is a time for us to do a postmortem as to what happened during the sport’s showpiece event, but instead the Sports Ministry and the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket are in a tug-of-war fighting a bitter battle to take control of the sport.

Given what an embarrassing defeat this was, the coaching staff and selection panel should have stepped down and so should have the Executive Committee paving way for fresh thinking. Instead, the authorities are at loggerheads not only fighting legal battles but requesting the sport’s global governing body for a suspension.

The egos of individuals can by no means come ahead of the national interest. When the entire country is asking you to pack up and go home for the mess you have created, you can not hang on to power by exploiting loopholes and the contacts that your office brings you. Unless there is a graceful exit, these individuals will face dire consequences in the form of public opinion.

This is not the first time an Interim Committee has been put in charge to clean up cricket. On all previous occasions, those boards exited gracefully paving way for smooth transition. This time though the administration is fighting tooth and nail to hang onto power.

Where the administration faulted was by placing wrong people at key positions. There were no checks and balances. Inconsistent selection policies, fielding woes and batting collapses existed well before the World Cup, but authorities failed to address these issues.

As for the selectors, they are hiding behind cooked up conspiracy theories without accepting responsibility for their utter failures.

They have had a three-year tenure, unlike any other selection panel to plan better for the World Cup and they have failed pathetically. There’s talk that why the team flopped was due to fielding lapses. There were 16 dropped catches and now it is being said that poor fitness levels had an effect. So, who endorse the unfit players? Didn’t the selection panel start off their tenure with a hue and cry about placing a high premium on fitness? Then what happened to those fitness standards?

Modern day fielding is much advanced. Sri Lanka’s training methods when it comes to fielding is outdated. Mr. Ranjit Fernando used to do high catches some 30 years ago and that is exactly what is being done at the moment.

Sri Lanka’s batting: across both red ball and white ball formats had collapsed this year on numerous occasions. The selectors and Batting Coach have failed to address the issue. It is time for a total clean up.