Cricketing nightmares through the crystal ball - Editorial

A few interesting developments in world cricket during the past week could send a chill down the spines of many in a cricket-mad country.

Cricket is the only sport in which Sri Lanka can be termed world class and it is no mystery why it has become an essential part in the lives of the islanders. Being a subject so close to their heart, cricket is a hot topic among Sri Lankans. It’s even so in the hallowed chambers of parliament, where cricket’s importance has been highlighted, taking it beyond the confines of a mere game.

The performance of the national team has often become the main focus bringing the country to a virtual standstill whenever the Sri Lankan team is in action. This is why we feel it is pertinent to discuss a few worrying facts about the future of cricket for Sri Lanka.

The first bad news came on Wednesday, when we reported the pending retirement of six of the best Sri Lankan cricketers including three former captains who played a vital part in placing the team on par with the best in the world. Sri Lanka has enjoyed the world’s number one T20 ranking for some time and are also faring well in other formats as well thanks to these stars, some of whom are all-time greats of the international game.

Then on Friday, Kumar Sangakkara showed us why he is still among the best when at the age of 36 a stunning century flattened the world champions -- India. It was enough to bring a lump to the throat of any Sri Lankan when imagining life after Sangakkara, because hardly any other batsman appears capable of matching the Indian team made up of mainly youngsters who will take their team into the future.

Ironically, on the day before Sangakkara’s solo star-turn, came one of the darkest days of Sri Lankan cricket providing a shocking premonition for the country’s cricket future. Sri Lanka’s Youth team lost by five wickets to Afghanistan’s Youth team in the play-off for the seventh and eighth places in the ICC under-19 World Cup in UAE. It was not actually a flash in the pan for the Afghans, who two months before beat Sri Lanka’s under-19 in the under-19 Asia Cup.

There was heavy media criticism over the selection of the under-19 team with alleged favouritism by the national selector. It is apparent that Sri Lanka needs better talent to fill the shoes of Sangakkara, Mahela or Malinga.

There was a time when Sri Lanka’s school cricket system was hailed as the best organised and most productive junior cricket set-up to develop cricketers. But since the times of Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Roshan Mahanama, we haven’t seen any schoolboys walking into the national team.

The recent changes in the international cricket structure have held back the relegation system of ICC full members. With the way things are developing, Sri Lanka should thank their lucky stars for that, because the future looks very bleak for the country’s cricket unless Sri Lanka Cricket utilises its billions and millions and their well-paid staff in a more meaningful way.

It is best to get the support of past stalwarts and draw up a master plan for Sri Lanka’s future. It will obviously need help from real cricketing brains such as former captain, coach and manager Duleep Mendis, Arjuna Ranatunga, Michael Tissera and Anura Tennekoon to name a few. But it will take some guts from SLC officials to shed their ego and approach them for help. Anyway it can only be better for cricket than paying Rs.75,000 monthly for someone to be a co-ordinator between SLC and the Sports Minster or paying millions of rupees as loan interest for the billions of rupees borrowed to build stadiums that are hardly used.

If Sri Lanka could match the world’s best in the past and present, there is no reason why we can’t do so in the future. But that needs a lot of careful planning and the implementation of those plans. If the officials are blinded by money, they will unwittingly kill the hen that lays the golden eggs.