Mandate Under Suspicion

Monday 18th October, 2010 15 enuine challenges, Yahaluweni, Roared”. If they understood the times interim committee to continue run- beg questions of how the being trialled as a middle- have a habit of exposing recur- in which the hilarious 1950s Cold War ning SLC without a mandate from the approach of the Proteas order player at full ODI Gring flaws in any system. spoof novel by American Leonard clubs. There are other side issues as is very different. In dis- The Chesterfield Files level. Whatever way you look at it, Sri Wibberley, and why, they would had well, and one is the growth of the cussion with Corrie van Okay, it is against Lanka Cricket are facing two: the first thought twice before making such a game at a provincial level to improve Zyl, the current South Zimbabwe, and some of is at home in the courts and the sec- comment trying to belittle the peti- standards. African coach while the their bowing is as bad as ond is in Australia, where Kumar tion. As it is, façades are remarkably A Team was in Sri you find at high school Sangakkara’s troupe start their pre- The USC (Galle) are treating it deceptive. To foreign visitors, Lanka, outlined the cur- level. But if you have an World Cup planning with a tour that seriously, otherwise they would not Cinnamon Gardens, with its tree- rent programme without on-going high-performance includes three limited-overs interna- have launched such a motion. It is lined, largely old colonial charm, giving too much away. system which pushes out tionals. though, hoped that this is a sincere handsome white washed appearances, Van Zyl is a rawboned such players, the question So far, we have read a lot of pre- effort, not one based on what can be exudes the affluence and image of an former fast bowler who is why does Sri Lanka have tour rhetoric from the skipper. Just gained from running the affairs of elite society. An inner suburb hosting helped Allan Donald in problems with certain ODI the sort of hype we had pre-India 2009 SLC during a World Cup year and two Test venues and much of Sri his early days, but the players regularly failing to with Sangakkara suggesting then that the game and its players, and the Lanka’s cricket heritage has been point of the senior coach make an impression? Like, India were under pressure and then affairs of SLC come first. shaped. All very polite and also very being on tour with the A Chamara Kapugedara and came a serious belly flop. Now, he his There are certain major ramifica- civilised. side explained a different Thilina Kandamby. singing a familiar tune and Australia, tions involving such a challenge. The That is until the subject of Sri level of input. Bob by Trevor Chesterfield Ingram is only the fifth despite their 2-0 Test defeat on the first is the need for the financial Lanka’s role as host for next year’s Woolmer brought the batsman in ODI history to sub-continent, will be fronting up affairs of the board to be laid out in World Cup is mentioned. Suddenly, first juniors as it were to make a debut century, with a squad looking at how they can public for the first time two and a half the conversation loses its articulate the island in 1995, a side which had as which started when Dennis Amiss easy-going bonhomie. Finger-pointing a 19-year-old Jacques Kallis. Van Zyl scored 103 against Australia at Old said his role was similar to that tour. Trafford in 1972. Ingram was solid rather than How his career works out after a spectacular in the triangular series debut three-figure score depends on Court challenge for the ad-hoc cronies of Maitland Place . with an average of 42.50 and a strike his ability to handle the pressure. It is rate of 82.52 with a half-century. As a lesson for Sri Lanka’s trio of Van Zyl explained, he is one of the Kapugedara, Kandamby and Angelo defend the World Cup crown held new contingent who will be pushing Mathews. since 1999. for a World Cup squad place. His Anyway, it was Sangakkara who a teammate, David Millar, another (email: [email protected]) month ago argued with unusual grav- itas for the need to protect players and administrators. Why the need to shelter administrators when they are Mandate under to be disclosed. Perhaps, he felt with all types of allegations circulating, which includ- ed match-fixing to other corruption, the admin boys in Maitland Place needed looking after. May be he also heard the whispers from the pavilion suspicion corridors there were plans to challenge, through the courts, the authori- years. and a stream of acerbic accusations ty of Sri Lanka Cricket’s entrenched It was Arjuna Ranatunga, the are flying faster than bouncers and Interim Committee system, now five World Cup winning captain when tak- boundaries. It is as though those pres- and a half years in running the game ing over in January 2008 who said the ent have been guzzling arrack instead and the current coterie being accused board was on a massive bank over- of tea and ready to step into a square of corruption. draft. He quoted figures and there ring without a referee. Well, as each interim committee was a balance sheet to support his There are also heated comments since the duly elected democratic claims. It is probably the last time over team selection policy for the big board was hijacked by the sports min- that financial and audited accounts of showpiece; wrangling over how build- istry in March 2005, and then those SLC were exposed. ing two of the three planned venues elected were ejected for charges that The most serious claim, and one from scratch will miss the deadlines have as yet to be proved, there have that has been pointed out in these set by the International Cricket long been accusations of in-house files on more than one occasion, is Council, and how the World Cup is robbery. So what’s new? Of course that the petitioner, in this case USC, being run by an organising commit- fraud on such a wide scale is the sort have said how the Sports Minister is tee without administrative creden- that will be denied as there is so far misusing his powers by allowing the tials and of dubious quality. This no proof of the mishandling of Somachandra de Silva alone adds to the growing intrigue as affairs and seen as growing pesti- headed well as claims of financial corruption lence. and hiring and firing without consul- With the Supreme Court granting tation and nepotism at the highest the United Sports Club, of Galle, the level. right to go ahead with their funda- This is the other side of the chal- mental rights appeal, which challenge facing those who have decided lenges the continuation of the non- to take on big brother in Maitland elected ad-hoc government appointed Place and the sports ministry. Yet as interim committee, and five months Bivus Shuklar asked during his before CWC11, the legality of Sri forty-eight hour visit, who runs SLC Lanka Cricket as a functioning body and what part do those who play is about to be examined. provincial and club cricket have a say Someone with links to Maitland in the affairs of the board if the body Place, unfairly whispered, and with- running it, is a government appointed out thinking, that the USC of Galle ad-hoc coterie, which was as bad as the cronyism label that surrounded are behaving like “The Mouse that the Ashantha de Mel selection panel. Bivus was the guy trawling Colombo looking for CWC11 memora- bilia and gave up in disgust. He asked if people are aware of the event, or are they distracted by other issues and suddenly, those such as Ratnakar Shetty in Mumbai, head of the organising committee for the event under- stands what profiling means. No one likes to criticise, but in this case, there is an appalling lack of informa- tion about the venues and their state of preparedness. While there is a row over getting the venues finished in time to meet the deadline, criticism of where jour- nalists are going to stay in Hambantota, venue for Sri Lanka’s opening game on February 20 against Canada, is of concern now. There is nothing remotely resem- bling three star accommodations in the area with wifi and internet facili- ties. The best is a cheap holiday B&B normally at US$30 a night single. With the World Cup, rooms are now US$300 to US$380 a night. This emerged when first a Pakistan journalist made initial inquiries back in May and now a West Indian journalist wanted to know what was available in the area for the two games to be played. Where also are the team and the television commentators, technical crew and cameramen to be housed for the tour of the island by the Caribbean side next month and December. It is either that or travel to tourist hotels along Unawatuna Bay almost two hours away at a far cheaper rate as a blanket of silence has been thrown around suggestions of a luxu- ry liner being used to house the teams and ICC officials as well as SLC hang- ers on. If anyone, last Friday night, had a good look at how one of South Africa’s debutants Colin Ingram worked the ball around during his debut ODI century against Zimbabwe, it would Kumar Sangakkara .

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