Former Sri Lanka cricket skipper Aravinda de Silva says ex-players remain frustrated with the game’s administration after recommendations they had made over the years to improve the sport had gone unheeded by the authorities.
What Sri Lanka cricket needed was to insert professionalism and non-partisanship to the administration of the game, de Silva said, after a host of former cricket stars publicly rejected a request by the Sports Minister to come on board and help administer the sport last Friday.
Former cricketers Roshan Mahanama, Mahela Jayawardane, Kumara Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan publicly turned down calls by Minister Faizer Mustapha urging them to come on board as consultants to Sri Lanka Cricket, the sport’s governing body.
In their letters and tweets to the Minister, the cricketers expressed frustration with Sri Lanka Cricket, echoing Aravinda de Silva’s assertion that several recommendations made in good faith during year long consultations with the board had not been implemented.
“There is no point doing the same thing over and over again, and hoping for a different result. It’s time for Sri Lanka Cricket to think out of the box, and come up with other creative solutions to improve the game,” De Silva told Sunday Observer in an interview yesterday.
Sri Lanka Cricket may need to look at instituting a corporate structure to put its house in order, the legendary Sri Lankan batsman said, by hiring professionals with impeccable track records who could find a way out of the morass.
“These professionals can seek expert inputs as they set about their tasks, including from former cricketers, and I am sure they will be glad to help,” De Silva added.
“Cricketers like myself don’t need to be in a committee to fix Sri Lanka Cricket,” he asserted.
“This is an issue that should be handled in a diplomatic way rather than for the sake of getting them (former players) in. This is something that goes beyond cricket and even the Minister must think out of the box and do something”, said de Silva.
Many of the retired players who rejected the Minister’s request to come on board as consultants, appeared to point at the working environment at Sri Lanka Cricket, which has been tainted by politics and a lack of transparency.
De Silva agreed that creating the right climate was paramount if a new process has to take shape.
“There must be accountability and transparency and no politically biased decisions”, he said.
“I don’t know whether former players and I can sort out issues unless there is a proper corporate structure to begin with”, De Silva added. “It was important that current cricketers are allowed to play without interference”, the former captain said.
Absolute honesty, transparency, and strict adherence to accepted norms and practices in all dealings connected with SLC are of paramount importance,” former cricket
captain Roshan Mahanama said in his letter rejecting the sports minister’s offer.
Kumar Sangakkara, another former captain and cricket legend, was equally critical in his rejection.
“There are many cricketers and administrators with genuine intentions that will not come forward with their time, efforts and ideas as time and time again they feel they have been taken advantage of and used as pawns to buy time for political manoeuvring,” Sangakkara’s letter said.
Referring to his previous experience advising Sri Lanka Cricket, Sangakkara said: “I spent over six months on that advisory committee and found it to be an abject waste of time as none of our recommendations were implemented or heeded”.
Mahela Jayawardane and legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan also rejected the request to consult for Sri Lanka Cricket.