by Rex Clementine

Among those who follow the gentleman’s game closely, many regard UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as Mr. Clean. But if they get hold of Roshan Mahnama’s new book, they will have a second opinion. Mahanama in his autobiography ‘My Innings’ goes onto claim that Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister in 2002 stopped then cricket chief Hemaka Amarasuriya from attending an ICC Meeting and instead nominated Thilanga Sumathipala.

“We were appointed to mange Sri Lanka Cricket due to a prevalent issue at the time, till fresh elections appointed a new committee. However, this was a very brief stint as the level of politics involved was contrary to my work ethic and principles. As an example, the Interim Committee decided that the Chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya should attend the ICC annual meeting. However, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe overruled and said that Thilanga Sumathipala who was not even part of the committee at the time, would attend instead,” writes Mahanama.

To give a bit of background, Sumathipala had been ousted a year prior to that as cricket chief by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and he would avenge his ouster by triggering multiple crossovers that crashed CBK’s Peoples’ Alliance government and Wickremesinghe’s UNP came into power. Sumathipala and the UNP had a deal and Wickremesinghe paved the way for Sumathipala to make a comeback at Maitland Place.

This is Mahanama’s second book on cricket and it was launched just before the festive season. Like the first one, it is selling like hot cakes. The book has some interesting anecdotes, mostly Mahanama’s observations during his long stint as a Match Referee with the ICC.

Often, cricket fans have wondered why Brian Lara batted wearing sunglasses during certain stages of his career. With fast bowlers operating at 140kmph it’s not the most sensible thing to do, that too in fading light. But Lara had his own ways. Mahanama’s book gives you a clue to his eccentrics.

“Memories go back to my first Test match in St. Lucia. I was walking out to the middle with the West Indies captain Brian Lara. I noticed that he was wearing dark sunglasses despite it being overcast and the possibility of rain and I made a casual comment with regards to it. Brian replied in typical Caribbean style, ‘Rosh, I came back at 5 am, and I need to hide my eyes from the camera.’ Such was the culture in the Caribbean and the brilliance of the individual he flayed the bowling to all parts and scored a hundred in quick time as well.”

Mahanama goes onto explain in the book some of the challenges that he faced in the early days as an ICC Match Referee.

“During my early days, I vividly recall some umpires intentionally used to call me ‘Ranjan’ repeatedly. I perceived this to be done as a side jab or indication that they believed that I had received my appointment due to Ranjan Madugalle, as it was only Sri Lanka who had two members on the Elite Panel of seven referees. I handled the issue patiently and professionally. Once I became more confident in my role, I used to at times reply in jest that, ‘you can only take a horse to the water, but you can not make it drink.’

Mahanama’s book also deals with some of the issues facing Sri Lankan cricket and most cricket enthusiasts tend to agree with his sentiments.

“Since the 1996 World Cup, for over two decades most of the administrators at the top have remained unchanged. They transfer from one position to the next and make changes with individuals such as coaches and selectors who are involved with cricket operations. However, it is ensured that they themselves or individuals associated to their ideology remain in key positions. A profound change is now required,” he notes.

“The constitution of SLC and the Sports Law of the country needs to be changed drastically. The present system where appointments are made through an election of club representatives numbering over a hundred small clubs, some of which are unheard of, leaves significant room for mismanagement by certain individuals. Such votes are easily bought over, which leads to the monopoly created by the same individuals who keep getting themselves re-elected. Hence, a complete revamp is needed,” he goes onto point out.