Whether it’s Heads or Tails what’s important is that cricket wins. Kanagadaran Mathivanan, the vice president resigned apparently after Sri Lanka Cricket sidelined him all the time and refusing to hear or implement his wise ideas for the game that is struggling in quicksand now.
But thankfully Jayantha Dharmadasa has stepped in to fill the void. In some way let’s hope cricket administration will win.
And stepping into the void created by Mathivanan is none other than the irrepressible former Chairman of SLC the likeable, honest and hardworking successful businessman Jayantha Dharmadasa who needs no introduction to the game.
Being a vice president is not Dharmadasa’s playing field after being Chairman on two previous occasions. He must don pads as Chairman again of SLC because he has it in him to bring alive the game again that is on the skids now.
Dharmadasa had been in cricket’s wilderness for far too long. His taking over as Vice President should be the stepping stone for a bigger and more important slot at SLC culminating as Chairman, the position that rightly belongs to him.
He has proved himself as a top notch gentleman and astute businessman successfully steering his many business ventures which is the envy of other business people with the Navaloka Hospital as his landmark.
Although Dharmadasa has not played the game, his knowledge and expertise to guide SLC is immense and if he gets men who will work as a team he can make not only SLC another successful business entity, but also put the game on the right pitch for success and help it regain its lost glory days. We hope Dharmadasa’s expertise will be used to the maximum.
Mathivanam has played the game for his school in Point Pedro and later with distinction in Sara Trophy cricket for Saracens Cricket Club and unhappy with the manner in which SLC was motoring and not giving ear to his brilliant and honest ideas of improving the game all-round he said enough is enough. After all he is a respected personality and he is not something that the cat brought in to be shoved around.
This was not the first time that ‘Mathi’ had been treated shabbily. There was a time when he was at SLC till an Interim Committee Chairman who parachuted unable to get elected came in an interim capacity and made it difficult for ‘Mathi’ to continue the good work he was doing and had to quit much to the detriment of the game and the administration.
We have known Mathivanan for a long time and can vouch for his honesty and hard work. He got into SLC to do a job of work and performed his duties much to the liking of all and his quitting will leave a big void in the administration.
From the time he sported the administrative cap in cricket he has done wonders for the player, the game and the administration. With cricketing blood in his veins, when he took over as president of Colts Cricket Club he did wonders for the club and one must visit the club to see the changes that have taken place which other presidents before him failed to do.
Mathivanan was voted in with a thumping majority when his team lost very badly when the previous election was held which showed the confidence the voters had in him and his ability to do wonders to promote the game and keep the administration squeaky clean.
Mathivanan is not one who will work against SLC while serving in it. To get rid of him SLC has made baseless allegations saying that they had taken the unanimous decision against Mathivanan because he had breached the SLC Code of Conduct on various occasions, specially by divulging all inside information and decisions made at these meetings to various outsiders without prior approval which they have alerted to him on several occasions.
This is some of what ‘Mathi’ had said in his letter of resignation. “According to the constitution of Sri Lanka Cricket, the two vice presidents handle the responsibilities of overlooking domestic and international cricket, but the current administration had chosen to ignore the norms and sideline me from the mainstream of cricket administration at both executive committee meetings and management committee meetings and my opinions not sought or heeded.
“At Executive Committee meetings I have raised several objections to the decisions taken but they have ignored me and taken their decisions nevertheless and I feel that I would also be held responsible for these unsavory decisions, which would be detrimental to the reputation I have built up as an honest administrator.
“Notice of meetings and the agenda with board papers had not been circulated to me in time, preventing me from studying the implications of the matters to be discussed.
“I have shown my displeasure and refused to endorse the decisions taken without discussion, but the current administration goes ahead with their pre-planned ideas which are detrimental to good order and discipline. I do not wish to be party to such flippant decision making,” Mathivanan concluded.