History’s discards branding Sri Lanka’s future

By Callistus Davy

Cricket’s financial frolics and cronyism may have been brought under control with the change of the old guard, but contentious player management and team selections continue unabated raising more questions for a second overhaul.

Following the defeat of the second string Sri Lanka team or what is technically called the A team in the first match of a home Triangular against India A in Dambulla on Tuesday, the very concept of the grooming process has been brought into questioning.

While India A is pitting its next crop of young players and testing them in Sri Lanka with one of them being the mercurial 15-year old youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the host country brought in players in their 30s making a mockery of the whole concept and what roles are they meant to play in the future against a teeming multitude of new entrants. 

Making matters blatantly clear was one of them in the 33-year old Niroshan Dickwella who proved he will have more to do than make a 50 to justify the presence of the new team selectors in Kapila Wijegunawardena, Brendon Kuruppu, Amal Silva and Varuna Waragoda whose own credentials are well known and whether they possess what is needed to take care of the future of the Sri Lanka team in the present international scenario has created another mess. 

Not many will grudge Dickwella for attempting to make a comeback at his age in the new contract scheme of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), but the manner in which he was dismissed at his comeback match playing a loose untidy sweep to throw away his wicket in the first match against India A soon after losing his partner Avishka Fernando, left a bad taste to digest. 

Dickwella may have put back his past as the spoilt brat of the Sri Lanka team and learnt from his mistakes. But his on-field responsibility was brought into the open meaning the country he represents is made to believe that the new SLC is up to the old game of musical chairs where team selectors enrich themselves with what they are entitled to and then unable to make independent decisions for reasons best known to them, move on when their time is up.

The new selectors find themselves having to prove they fit into the set-up where great players in the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Roshan Mahanama, who have been installed to turn things around, will be able to rely on them or will the two icons have to perform the task of selecting players rendering the Selectors obsolete in the current change-making set-up.